


Civil Warriors

by CrashDevil (cjdevlin19)



Series: Red Queen Chronicles [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-06
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-08-13 08:08:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7968931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjdevlin19/pseuds/CrashDevil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Is Clint with you?" Natasha asked, her voice serious.</p><p>"Of course, he is."</p><p>"Put me on speaker. I have to talk to you both."</p><p>"About the Accords?" Cassie asked, pressing the button to send the Russian's voice to speaker. "'Cause I'm not signing."</p><p>"I'm retired." Clint walked up next to Cassie.</p><p>"This is a big deal. You have to, at least, think about it, guys."</p><p>"Think about a group of men who've never been in a room with a supervillain telling me when and what I can do about those villains? Do you think those men would have let you guys come after me when I was with Loki? Do you think they would've let you come to rescue me when I was in Austria?"<br/>**********************<br/>Cassie Campbell won't sign the Accords. It's not about pride, though, it's about what's right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Oversight

Cassie sat on the couch in her home in Seattle, drinking coffee and reading through the newspaper. "Did you see this, babe? The United Nations drafted up a law in response to the thing that happened in Nigeria."

"Yeah? What's the new law?" Clint called from the bedroom.

"It's pretty fucking oppressive, actually. Basically, superheroes have to answer to them. Go where they say, do what they want. They decide who our villains are and what is acceptable action against them. All known superheroes are expected to sign these Sokovia Accords."

"And if we don't?" Clint walked in, a piece of pizza in his hand. "If we decide to hero without the UN's consent?"

"If we hero, we end up the next ones on the arrest warrant, hunted down by the legit heroes."

Clint took a bite of the pizza and flopped down next to her. "Good thing we're retired."

"I didn't retire. I took a break. I wanted to finish my degree." She slapped the newspaper into his lap. "This is... ridiculous. We can _do_ things that cops can't do, that the military can't do. To dictate when and where we can go to _do_ these things... what happened in Lagos was horrible, but _all_ the people in that building's courtyard would've blown if she hadn't done what she did."

"Some would say that Rumlow wouldn't have activated that bomb if Steve hadn't been there."

"No, he wouldn't have. But if Steve hadn't been there, he would've gotten away with a weaponized disease that would have caused hundreds more deaths in the long-run!"

"You know an awful lot about what happened in Lagos. Have you been heroing vicariously?"

"Nat and I have been talking."

Clint sat up straight, turning to her. "You and Nat? Are good, are friends?"

"Yes. You remember Pepper took me out for my... '9 months after conception when they took me out of the goo and let me breathe on my own for the first time' day? And we had a girl's day with Maria? Natasha came along, we had some free mimosas, got our nails and hair done. We had fun, decided we actually liked each other. She said I was good enough for you and I think that was all I really needed to hear to let go of my grudge about the cocktease comment."

Clint smiled. "So, you and Nat have been talking about everything that they've been doing? What, you wanna go back?"

"Not yet, but... we might have to."

"What do you mean?" He asked, munching on the pizza again.

"I mean, this is gonna tear us apart. There are going to be heroes who find the idea just as oppressive I do and they are gonna rebel. This is gonna cause in-fighting and pain."

"Yeah. And we are gonna stay out of that because we're retired."

"Bullshit." Cassie said, standing. "And get the pizza out of the bedroom, Clint. We've talked about this. Lucky gets into it if you leave it where he can-"

"It's _in_ the side table. Lucky can't open drawers, yet."

"I don't want him scratching at the furniture, either, dude. Put the pizza in the fridge."

"I'll put _you_ in the fridge." Clint mumbled, heading for the bedroom.

"Home, sweet home." She called out.

"Shit! You know I didn't mean it like that." Clint said, walking out of the bedroom with a cardboard pizza box.

"I know. You just don't think before you speak sometimes." Cassie said as her phone started to ring. 'Natasha' shined up at her. "And here we go." She said, picking up the phone from the coffee table and answering it.

"Yeah?"

"Is Clint with you?" Natasha asked, her voice serious.

"Of course, he is. He hasn't left since Christmas."

"Put me on speaker. I have to talk to you both."

"About the Accords?" Cassie asked, pressing the button to send the Russian's voice to speaker. "'Cause I'm not signing."

"I'm retired." Clint walked up next to Cassie.

"This is a big deal. You have to, at least, _think_ about it, guys."

"Think about a group of men who've never been in a _room_ with a supervillain telling me when and what I can do about those villains? Do you think those men would have let you guys come after me when I was with Loki? Do you think they would've let you come to rescue me when I was in Austria?"

"Look, we need some oversight. What happened in Lagos-"

"I'm gonna hate myself for using these words, but 'acceptable losses', Nat. Yes, a dozen people died in Lagos, but Rumlow was gonna blow up everyone in the courtyard. The amount of damage done was cut, at least, in half and these are your words. And when you add in the fact that Rumlow almost got away with a biological weapon... but you didn't know that going in. You thought he was going after the police station. You never would have gotten approval to stop him on that partial information. He would have gotten away with it. Hundreds, maybe thousands, would have died."

"Clint... talk some sense into your girl."

Clint shook his head and smiled at the younger woman. "Natasha. You are my best friend and I love you, but... I don't love you enough to go against the Queen."

"Look, I'm gonna tell Ross that you're on the fence. TBD, just like Wanda. Think about it some more."

"No need. This is an oppressive law and there will always be heroes who do the job without permission. If we wanted to be under the command of a government or governments, we'd have joined up with the Army."

"I'm telling Ross you don't have an answer. You have three days. Think about it." Natasha said, before the phone clicked off.

"Well, I really wanted to be retired, but I get the feeling you just signed us up for a war." Clint said, wrapping his arms around her.

"I didn't sign anything."

"And that's the point." Clint pressed his lips to her cheek and squeezed her. "How long, you think, before this blows up in our faces?"

"The Russian said three days, so... we'll get, maybe four."

"Okay. So... head to the farm, drop off Lucky with Laura and the kids before our next big issue?"

Cassie nodded and turned to him. "I love you. You know that, right?"

"I know. We can head out tomorrow, okay?"

"Maybe we'll have time to do something fun with Lila and Cooper before things get bad."

"Ooh, water-skiing. Coop was sayin' he really wanted to give that a try."

"Yeah, but what about Lila?"

"You think she can't water-ski?"

"I think I'm nervous about the water-crash."

"Hey, if Laura goes with it, we can. Come on, we're a circus family. We ain't scared of crashin'."

Cassie laughed. "I love you, circus freak."

"I love you, Frankenstein."

***********************

"Aunt Cassie! Uncle Clint!" Lila ran in as soon as they entered the house. She wrapped her arms around Cassie's middle as Cooper walked in and went for a half hug with Clint. 

"Mom and Nate are sleeping." 

"Good. Babies and mommies need nappies." Clint laughed. "I don't know why I said it like that."

"Cause you're a dork. And since when am I your aunt, little girl?" Cassie looked down at the little blond girl in her arms.

"Mommy said that the only one she's ever seen Uncle Clint look at the way he looks at you was Aunt Bobbi and he's bound to put a ring on your finger soon."

"Oh, she said that, huh? Gonna have to have a talk with your mommy." Clint grumbled.

"Anyway." Cassie said, pointedly. "Lucky is out in the yard. He's begging for some fetch after that long car ride. You kids up for it?"

The kids ran for the door, excited. "Laura needs to learn to keep her mouth shut."

Cassie turned to him. "Ah, come on. I'm sure it's just more of Lila wanting cousins."

"No. It's Laura... running her big fat mouth." Clint said, putting his hand in his pocket. Cassie's eyes widened as she focused in on the ring box. "I had this whole speech planned, about second chances in life and destinies and stuff, but..."

"Clint... what are you-"

"I can get down on one knee if you want. I mean, that's not really our style, but I can go classic with it, if you-" He smiled, opening the box and bending his left leg. "If that's what it takes to get you to say 'yes' and make me the happiest cliche in the world."

"Don't you dare." Cassie said, pulling him to her and kissing him, her hands burying in his hair.

Clint pulled back and brought the ring up to her face. "It's white gold. Diamonds and sapphire inlay so you can still punch people. I know you don't think you were born, but September birthday, sapphires."

"I don't care about the ring, Clint." She breathed out.

"Yeah, I get that, what with you not looking at it, at all. Also worrisome, you haven't said 'yes', yet."

"Clint, you could have tied a string around my finger and I would have said 'yes'." She laughed. "I'm saying 'yes', Clint."

His lips crashed onto hers again as she grabbed the ring box from his hand. "About damn time. He's had that ring for 2 months." Laura said, walking into the living room. "So, this is how you do it, Clint? What happened to candles and a string quartet and all those reasons you gave for holding off for the last couple months?"

"Yeah, well, that's how I was gonna do it. I was even gonna ask Tony for his blessing as a funny take on the fact that he's more of a father to you than, you know, anyone else. And I kinda got Phil's blessing at Christmas, like he said there wouldn't be an issue." He shook his head. "But then a HYDRA agent decided to blow himself up in Nigeria, the UN decided to make our friends sign up to be international mall cops on their payroll, which fractured us and... shit's gonna hit the fan soon and I wanted to know that, that you're with me through all of it."

"Of course, I am." Cassie said, slipping the ring on her left ring finger. She chuckled in surprise. "It fits."

"Yeah. I measured your finger in your sleep."

"If that weren't so adorable, it'd be creepy. I love you, Clint. I can't wait to be 'Cassie Barton'."

****************************

"Oh. That's not good." Cassie muttered, as the news played.

_"A bomb hidden in a news van blew up in front of the UN building in Vienna. More than 70 people have been injured, at least 12 are dead, including Wakanda's King T'Chaka. Officials have released a video of the suspect, who they have identified as James Buchanan Barnes, the Winter Soldier, the infamous HYDRA agent linked to numerous acts of terrorism and political assassinations. They're urging anyone with information to contact authorities."_

"Clint!" Cassie called. Clint walked in from the kids' play room, a hammer in his hand. "We were discussing 4 days 'til excrement/fan collaboration? I was wrong." She hit rewind on the DVR and replayed the news.

"Shit. Bucky, that's... that's Steve's bestie, right?"

"Bucky was Steve's Nat. They took care of each other, since they were in school together. Bucky got grabbed by HYDRA and brainwashed into being an assassin for them. Steve didn't sign, but there is no way he's gonna sit back and let this shit happen. No way he lets anyone else bring Bucky in." Cassie answered, leaning forward to grab her phone. She dialed Steve and waited. "You're about to do something stupid, aren't you?"

Steve chuckled. "It's only stupid if I get caught."

"What're the consequences if you do get caught? 'Cause I got the feeling the consequence is jail time. Captain America in jail, just seems wrong."

"Like I said... consequences are for if I get caught. If I don't, then I can bring Bucky in with minimal damage."

"Steve, when have we ever done anything with 'minimal damage'? That's the reason the Accords exist."

"I'm going to bring him in... even if someone has to arrest me for doing it."

"Look..." Cassie spun her ring on her finger. "You know Clint and I didn't sign, right? You know, if you need us, we're here."

"Well, I've got Sam on location with me. He's already... pretty much agreed to put himself on the line with me for this. But, thanks. I appreciate it. Oh, and, um, congratulations. I heard about-"

"Nat's got a big mouth. Thanks, but this isn't really the time, is it? Bigger things, that's why I didn't announce it like I'm sure a bride-to-be is supposed to." Clint smiled at her, taking her left hand in his and kissing the back of it.

"Well, I thought you were retired. This stuff shouldn't have anything to do with you."

"Come on. I went on hiatus, fully intended on coming back after graduation. Clint retired, not me. And he's not very good at being retired, either. Listen, Steve, seriously. Be careful. I don't want to have to come visit you with a piece of superhero-proof glass between us."

"I'll keep that in mind, Cass. Enjoy your... retirement."

"Not retired."

"Well, maybe you should be. I'll call you after... if I can."

"Right. Be careful."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Oi, old man. Don't 'ma'am' me."

Steve chuckled again. "I'm gonna miss being an Avenger with you."

"Sometimes, Steve, the end of one thing is the beginning of _everything_ else."

"I'll keep that in mind. I'll call."

"You better." Cassie pulled the phone away from her head and looked at her fiance. "I think we should get our shit together. Just in case. Steve thinks he's got it pretty well in hand, but I wanna be able to hop on a plane to Europe as soon as he calls."

"Of course. I do want to try to take the kids out on the lake, though."

Cassie giggled as Cooper and Lila could be heard in the play room jumping for joy. "Water-ski! Water-ski!"

"We'll go tomorrow morning. Today, let's go out to eat. We'll mall it up today." She lowered her voice and sighed. "I need a bag so I can bring the staff along with me."

"Oh, you're gonna let the Berserker come to play?" Clint's voice was apprehensive.

"I... want that option. I mean, against a suit of armor or two... Berserker strength might be a good..."

"You're pretty strong without the-"

"Clint... I know what it does to me and it scares me, too, babe, but... Sif and Thor think I'm strong enough to deal and... I've come back from it."

"But... you slept half the day after last time and you only had it in your hands for 10 minutes, and... you had some-"

"Anger issues after. I remember. It's a Berserker staff. It's not a 'cuddly, happy memories' staff."

"Well, I'd rather you fight with a regular staff. I've got that bow that turns into a bo."

"That joke wasn't funny the first time I heard it, and it isn't funny now." She ran her hand down his face, lovingly. "It'll be okay. It's adrenaline. Massive amounts of adrenaline and my body can take that."

"What about your _mind_? It pulls out all your worst memories and uses them as fuel for that adrenaline."

"I don't want to talk about this, anymore, Clint. I'm taking the staff. I need a long locking box or suitcase so that no one else can touch the thing."

"When this messes you up, Cassie, I'm not gonna hold back with the 'I told you so's."

"Noted, Hawk."


	2. Berlin-bound

As they were driving toward the mall, a report came on the news. " _Authorities have called off the search for the Winter Soldier, James Buchanan Barnes, after a high-speed chase in Bucharest, Romania. Also arrested in the event, Steve 'Captain America' Rogers and Sam 'Falcon' Wilson. We'll let you know more as more information comes to light."_

"Dammit, Steve!" Cassie groaned, hitting the radio to turn it off as she pulled out her phone. The phone rang over and over. "Of course they took his phone. Idiot."

She dialed another of her speed dials and put the phone to her ear. "Tell me you're calling to volunteer your signature and your time to come talk some sense into Rogers." Tony said.

"How _is_ Steve?"

"Stubborn and behind the times. He's refusing to make the choice that's good for everyone.". A moment passed in silence. "You aren't planning to sign, are you? I know Barton's retired but you wanna make the stupid choice, too, don't you?"

"Tony, if I wanted a group of men to tell me what to do with my abilities, I'd have joined up with SHIELD, gotten paid for it. Or, gone back to HYDRA, I'd've been in charge there." Clint reached his right hand over to playfully slap her thigh for the thought. "I don't want to be retired, Tony, but I refuse to let the UN control me just because we make them nervous."

"We don't make them nervous, Cassie. We scare the hell out of them because we bring destruction."

"It's funny. Aren't you the one who told the US government to go fu- screw themselves when they wanted control of your suits?" Cassie turned to smile tightly at Lila sitting in the backseat. "Now, you're bending over backward to get other superheroes to sign up for indentured servitude. I wanna say you've grown, but... maybe you've just gotten old."

"People die when we're given carte blanche to do whatever we want. People-"

"People die every day. And a lot more would die without us. We didn't invite Loki and his Chitauris. We didn't invite Malekith. We most definitely didn't want anything to do with HYDRA, but we cleaned it up and Sokovia? Ultron was  _your_ fault, and we cleaned that up, too."

"Cassie, you're a German lab experiment." Tony said, his tone matter-of-fact. "You don't have a real birth certificate or a valid passport. You don't have a right to travel to other countries and put people in danger, even if you're doing it for the right reasons. If you sign, you have the right to-"

"I'm not signing." She sighed. "You're right, Tony. I'm not a US citizen. I'm barely a human. But I'm a good person and I'd like to think I'm still an Avenger, even if I have to be one in secret."

"I can't let you do that. You know it's illegal to be-"

"There are worse laws I could break."

"Cassie, please, think about this. Don't just blindly follow Rogers because you think he's cute."

"That's not... I'm engaged, you ass. This is not a contest of who's cuter. This is about freedom."

"Well, if you come out of retirement, you're gonna end up in cuffs. We'll see how much freedom you have, then."

"More than you and the rest of the signatures on that paper." Cassie said, turning off the phone. She turned to Clint. "Steve's okay. It seems like Tony is still trying to convince us all to sign, Steve included."

"So, should we be buying tickets?"

"You think they'd let us into the place they're holding him and Sam? No, not unless we signed." She looked down. "No, let's just keep doing what we're doing. Right now, everybody's in one place, mostly safe. That's the best we can hope for."

Clint nodded and turned his full attention to the road.

*********************

Cassie's phone went off as she was getting ready for bed that night. It was an unknown number, prefixes for Germany. "Hello?"

"Cassie. It's Steve."

"You steal someone's phone, Steve?"

"It's a prepaid. I had to... things went very bad over here. You still on board to help if I need it? Because I need it."

"What happened?" Cassie asked, pulling her jeans back on.

"The bombing was a setup to draw Bucky out of hiding. There was a psychologist that they called in to talk to him. The man activated whatever HYDRA put in him. He went on a rampage and escaped. Sam and I were able to subdue him, but... Tony would never listen to me about this. We locked him down and waited for him to come back to himself and he told me that the guy asked about where he came from. He told the shrink about a lab in Siberia, about 5 other Winter Soldiers who are still in stasis. Worst of the worst."

A flash of a door with two armed guards in the middle of a white snowy landscape hit her. "And, what, the psychologist wants to bring them out of stasis? To what end?"

"He said something about bringing down an empire. He could bring down any empire he wants with these guys. Master assassins, like HYDRA ninjas."

"We have to stop him. Which is illegal and likely to get us arrested. Great. Where do you need me?" Cassie asked, leaning down to put on her boots, phone wedged between her ear and shoulder.

"We're gonna need more muscle. If these guys are as bad as Bucky says, we're gonna need as many pairs of hands as possible."

"Okay. Anybody in particular in mind? I mean, all I have is you guys and SHIELD and that's..."

"Actually, I have a couple. Wanda is first and foremost. Tony has Vision sitting on her at the compound. The other is a guy named Scott Lang. He's, apparently, Ant-Man. He's in San Francisco. Sam is gonna send you the address if you're all right with bringing them over."

"Where's that? Berlin? Are you still even in Germany?" Cassie asked. _*Clint and I will have to split up.*_

"Still in Germany, but I'm not going to give you an exact location until you get to Europe. Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Positive. We can't let the other Soldiers out. Text me the address for Lang. We can be there in..." She looked at her watch. "We'll have to fly commercial, under aliases, so... give us 24 hours, we'll be there."

"Thank you, so much."

"No need to thank us. Just don't get caught or do anything else stupid until we get there, Steve."

He chuckled. "I'll try to fight the urge."

"I'll see you soon, Steve." Cassie hung up and grabbed her bag. "Clint!"

"What's up?" He called back.

"Get your shit, we have to go." She called, as her phone went off with a text.

Clint walked into the bedroom and raised an eyebrow. "Where we goin'?"

" _You're_ going to New York to rescue Wanda from the compound. Tony had Vision put her on lockdown. She can't leave... for safety. He turned home into an internment camp. You have to save her and then get her to Berlin."

"Where are _you_ going?"

"I'm going to go recruit the Ant-Man." She said, slinging the bag she bought for her staff over her back. She grabbed her duffel off the floor and turned flush with Clint. "Time is of the essence. There's some badass, world-endy assassins possibly being woken up in Siberia any time now, so... I love you. I'll see you in a day or so."

"Hey. How you getting to the coast?"

"My Christmas present." She said, leaning her head up to capture his lips. "I love you, Hawk. Don't let Vision hurt you, please."

"Don't get any ant bites." Clint retaliated as she rushed out of the bedroom, down the stairs and out to the barn.

She pulled a sheet off the present Phil gave her for Christmas and sat on the Harley. "Flying Harley, you are my favorite present ever." She pushed a button and the bike roared to life. She pressed another and the wheels both turned, and the bike began to hover.

***************

Scott Lang walked into his apartment and switched on the lights. He jumped a bit as his eyes fell on Cassie, sitting at his table. "Hope you don't mind." She said, standing. "This isn't, exactly, a good neighborhood, so I let myself in."

"Pick the lock? 'Cause I didn't see any evidence..." Scott said, turning to examine the lock for scratch marks.

"Come on, Scott. You, of all people, should know that sometimes it's easier to climb a wall and open a window than pick a lock. Bathroom windows. Everyone ignores the bathroom window." She smiled and offered her hand. "I'm Cassie Campbell. I'm with the Avengers. Or I... used to be. There's some restructuring happening."

"Wait, you're... Red Queen, right?"

"And you're the new Ant-Man. Hank Pym's protege. You're a hero, right?"

"I'm... trying?" Scott said, closing the door. "What are you doing here? I mean, I'm honored to have an Avenger here- this isn't about me breaking into the compound and beating up Falcon, is it? Because Pym told me-"

"No, it's not. I mean, that's what made Sam think of you. We need help. Like I said, there's some restructuring going on and..." She broke her professional exterior in favor of honest anger. "Tony's got his head so far up the UN's ass that we can't ask for his help on this one. Widow's out, too, because she suddenly gives a damn about how the world perceives her. Banner and Thor are both MIA and that leaves us dangerously understaffed for the showdown with 5 crazy HYDRA super assassins and whoever this asshole is that blew up the UN and framed Bucky Barnes to draw him out of hiding. We need the Ant-Man, Lang. What do you say? Wanna come to Germany with me?"

"Uh." Scott cleared his throat, finally taking her outstretched hand. He didn't shake it, though, just holding it. "Cassie, huh? I'm partial to Cassies. You have really soft hands." He smiled, charmingly. "Of course, I'll come. I just have to grab the su- That's the suit?" He asked as she handed him a duffel.

"You didn't hide it very well."

"Yeah, I did." He seemed offended at the notion. "I had it-"

"My first boyfriend was a spy, my current boyfriend was a thief before he became a spy. I can find shit. Grab your passport. We have to fly commercial."

"So, the suit's gonna have to be checked baggage?"

"Yeah, there's no way that's being allowed for carry-on. Don't worry, my staff is getting checked, too. Let's go."

********************

"So. 'Alexandra', huh? Not as pretty as 'Cassie', but I'm biased. My daughter's named 'Cassandra', you know?" Scott said, turning to Cassie.

"It's an alias. Not either of the names Tony knows me by." She whispered.

"I'm not traveling under-"

"He doesn't know you. He knows Pym, but he doesn't know you. It's Tony Stark. Unless it's directly related to him, he doesn't care."

"And you're directly related to him? Cause you're an-"

"I worked in his labs." She interrupted. The last thing she wanted was for someone to overhear that there was an Avenger on the plane. "That's how he knew me, that's how I got an invitation to join up."

"Is that how you became... what are you?"

"Super strong. Accelerated cellular regeneration. Agility. Speed. Amazing endurance and reaction time. My body runs at peak performance without any prodding. I'm, also, pretty handy with a gun and I've been learning how to use staves. And it wasn't a lab accident or any of that. It was a lab intentional. It's how I was made."

"You were _made_?" Scott asked, picking up on her wording.

"Yeah. I was made, experimented on, rescued, experimented on, locked away... I'd rather not get into it. Just sit back and watch the in-flight. We can talk about our pasts later, okay, Scott?"

Scott nodded and grabbed the headphones she'd bought him.

*************

"Clint. Just arrived. What's your ETA?" Cassie asked, putting her phone to her ear.

"Got here about half an hour ago. Got a van waiting for you in the loading zone."

"Awesome. I'm gonna grab some coffee. The Ant is dragging. Jet-lag. He's grabbing our bags, we'll be out in a few." Cassie turned off her phone and headed for a small airport cafe. She smiled at the barista. "Ich hätte gern Kaffee, bitte." She held up 4 fingers.

"Sahne und Zucker?" The barista asked.

"Zum mitnehmen." She answered, pulling up her purse and pointing at it as she pulled her wallet out.

"You American?" The barista asked, putting several handfuls of cream and sugar into the purse.

"Is it that obvious?"

"No. Your accent is good and you know I have no bags to give you for creams and sugars. You must spend a lot of time in Deutschland."

"I was born here. Moved to the US when I was 10. Relearned the language a couple years ago. Still struggling on some bits. Finally got 'zum mitnehmen' down last time I came through here." She smiled as she took the coffees and headed toward the baggage carousel. Scott smiled at her, holding both of their duffel bags and her staff bag.

"Oh. Coffee. Perfect. This was all of our stuff, right?"

"Right. Clint and Wanda are outside. Come on." She said, handing the coffee to him and picking up all of the baggage. "Let's go."

Clint jumped out of the driver's seat and opened the back of the van for Cassie to drop the bags, but she climbed in with them, instead, pulling out her phone. Scott nodded at Clint as he opened up the side door. "I'm Scott."

"Clint. Get in." Clint ordered, grabbing two of the coffees and walking around to the driver's side again.

Cassie reached her hand over the back of the seat and listened to the phone ring. "Are you here?"

"Yep. Now, where do you want us?" Scott put a coffee in her hand as she spoke, so she dug into her purse and threw several sugar packets and creams over the back of the seat.

"I'll send you the GPS coordinates." Steve said, before hanging up.

"Things _must_ be bad. Steve didn't even say 'goodbye'." She chuckled, tossing her phone at Clint, who caught it without turning his head. "GPS coordinates for where he needs us."

"This is an airport. This is only a couple hours away. Oh, look, it says 'Ask Clint to get us transport to Siberia'. I think I can manage that, big guy." Clint said, as Cassie took a sip of her coffee and leaned her head against the side of the van. "How was your flight?"

"Long. I thought a cross-Atlantic trip in a Quinjet jump seat was bad, but at least it's fast. Commercial jets are Hell. Like, I would not be surprised if Hell was just sitting in an uncomfortable chair without the option of leaning back, watching a crappy rom-com without sound because you didn't want to pay to listen to the drivel that Nicholas Sparks thinks women want to hear."

"She totally bitched about The Notebook for half the flight. That wasn't even the movie that was playing." Scott chuckled.

"Rom-coms are lies. That's not how life works. In real life, you get proposed to in your boyfriend's living room and his sister-in-law tells you how it was gonna be so much more awesome except your friends decided to start a fight with each other and the world might end so we can't wait for-"

"I thought that didn't matter." Clint said.

"I'm sure she's just frustrated. Right, Cassie?" Wanda said, from the front seat.

"Genau. Es tut mir lied. Babe, I'm just tired. And I'm not looking forward to... what might happen. I'm gonna nap. Ich liebe dich." 


	3. Kindred spirits

"Cap." Clint greeted as the little blue car pulled into the parking garage next to the van and he got out.

"You know I wouldn't have called if I had any other choice."

"Hey, man. You're doing me a favor. Besides, I owe a debt." Clint said, turning his head to look at Wanda.

"Thanks for having my back." Steve addressed the witch.

"It was time to get off my ass."

"How about our other recruits?" Steve asked as Cassie jumped out of the back of the van.

"Well, he's raring to go." Clint said, pulling the sliding door open. "Had to put a little coffee in him, but he should be good."

Scott sat up from his position of laying across the back seat. He rubbed his hand down his face as he started to pull himself out of the van. "Man, what time zone is this?"

"Come on. Come on." Clint said, pushing Scott toward Steve and Sam.

Scott looked starstruck as he put his hand out to shake Steve's. "Ca-Captain America!"

"Mr. Lang."

"It's an honor. I'm shaking your hand too long." Scott let go of his hand and smiled. "Wow, this is awesome. Captain America."

He turned to Wanda and Cassie. "I know you, too. You girls are great." He reached forward, testing the musculature of Steve's shoulders, before clapping his hands together. "Geez. Ah. Look, I wanna say, I know you know a lot of super people so... thinks for thanking of me."

Steve smiled at the stumbled sentence as Scott looked over at Sam. "Hey man."

"What's up, tic-tac?"

"Uh, good to see you. Look, what happened last time when I-"

"It was a good audition." Sam shook his head, with a smile. "But it, it will never happen again."

"They tell you what we're up against?" Steve asked, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"Something about some... psycho assassins?"

"We're outside the law on this one. So, if you come with us, you're a wanted man."

"Yeah, well, what else is new?"

"And you, Cassie? Are you sure you're okay with this? I know you pride yourself on being on the right side of the law." Steve said.

"Well, kinda knew I'd end up on Interpol's most wanted list someday. HYDRA will be disappointed that it's not for being a crazy Nazi crazy brains, but hey, they're already disappointed in me." She smiled, sweetly, up at Steve.

"Red Skull would hate you for everything you have already done." Steve said.

"Oh, dear ol' Dad would've killed me years ago. Or sent me to be reprogrammed again, like Sinthea."

Scott turned to her. "Wait, you're Red Skull's daughter?"

Cassie smiled. "You know, some days, I look in the mirror and I think 'Everyone can see. Everyone knows, I'm just like him', and then someone says something like that. Thanks."

"No, but seriously. You're hot. How'd that happen?"

Clint glared, putting his hand on her shoulder. "All right. Back off, Bug boy. She's taken."

Cassie laughed and patted the hand on her shoulder. "What can I say, Clint? Criminals love me."

"Yeah. So do SHIELD agents, Asgardian Princes, and IQF hunks of meat." He grumbled.

She turned to him. "Are you jealous... of Scott Lang?"

As Scott looked offended, Clint rubbed the back of his neck. "And this is just one example of how Clint Barton ruins relationships. I'm sorry, babe."

"No, it's kinda cute. It means you're afraid to lose me. But seriously, I chose _you_. Don't be jealous. If any man was going to take me away from you, it would be... Bucky Barnes." Her eyes focused on Bucky, who was standing on the other side of a blue VW Beetle, trying to hide in his hair. She'd been too focused on Scott to notice him.

"What?" Clint and Steve said in surprise.

Cassie walked forward, stepping around the car to look at Bucky up close. "Wow. Never thought I'd be this close to you again. You look good without the... coldness in your eyes." Her green eyes locked in on his blues. He looked uncomfortable, but he didn't break the contact.

"How do you know what he looks like... when he's...?" Steve asked.

"Ich bin eine Kind von HYDRA, and he kinda is, too. You were _made_ in a lab, just like me." She whispered the last sentence to Bucky, but everyone heard.

"Do the bilingual sentences bug anybody else?" Scott asked.

"You get used to it." Sam and Clint answered.

"He was reprogrammed in a lab. Not your lab, though. How do you know Winter Soldier on sight?" Steve pushed.

"He brought something to my lab, once, for an experiment, when I was like 8 or 9." She did not break her hold on Bucky's eyes, and his right hand came up to brush his hair out of his face so he could see her better.

"What?" Steve asked.

"Wenn ich mich recht erinnere... he was bringing CSF from a mutant with a rapid healing ability. They thought that, maybe if they injected it into me, I'd develop a similar ability."

"CSF?" Sam asked.

"Cerebrospinal Fluid." Scott, Bucky and Cassie answered. Cassie finally broke her eye contact and looked across the car to the other heroes. Bucky kept his eyes on her for a minute before hiding in his hair again.

"That must've made you sick." Scott continued.

"Uh, yeah. I was a bit meningitis-y for a few days. Never ended up with a mutant ability."

"So, _all_ of their experiments failed?" Cassie nodded. "Then, how are you an Avenger? Like, I saw some of the Sokovia footage, you were pretty heavily destroying some Ultronbots. There was one that you kicked in the head and he just fell apart. That can't have just been..."

"Loki. Used some of his Asgardian pseudo-magic... science shit on me, unlocked the dormant potential. Voila! Red Queen is born."

"Loki? Wow. That guy is an asshole."

"You have no idea."

"We should get moving." Bucky muttered. 

"I've got a chopper lined up." Clint grumbled, grabbing Cassie's hand as an alarm went out across the airport, a voice in German telling everyone to evacuate the area.

"They're evacuating the airport." Bucky translated.

"Stark." Steve said.

"Stark?" Scott asked, surprised.

"We're outside the law, remember? Stark signed up to be the law." Cassie explained.

"Suit up." Steve ordered.

"Cassie and I will change on other side of van. No peeking." Wanda said, pulling Cassie's hand out of Clint's grasp and dragging her around to the other side. "You were staring intently at Mr. Barnes." She whispered as she pulled her clothes off.

"I had a huge crush on him when I was little. Before I fell in love with Phil. He was so... different than all the HYDRA guys I met, different enough to stick in my brain when I got older. And then, Phil was such a Captain America fanboy that I couldn't avoid learning about Bucky. I didn't know Bucky was Winter Soldier..." She whispered back, barely audible.

"I think Clint was feeling... very jealous. You should think about his feelings before you do things."

"You know what, Wanda? I was looking at him, it's not like I was begging him to screw me or anything." She whispered.

Wanda turned to her, pulling her red leather jacket on as Cassie pulled down her super shirt. "I could dig into your head, help you figure out what you really want."

"No, thank you. I'm a grown woman. I know what and who I want."

"Are you sure?" Wanda asked, looking down at Cassie's left hand.

"Bucky and I have a lot in common, okay? That's all. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"You ladies ready?" Sam called out from the other side of the van.

Cassie stomped around the back of the van, pulling a pair of gloves on. "Ready."

"All right. Cassie, you come with me. We'll take the ground, go out like we're making a run for the chopper, try to talk some sense into Tony. Failing that, we'll be a good distraction for Clint and Wanda. You two take the high point to try and find their Quinjet. Sam and Bucky, you take the middle ground, same target."

Cassie grabbed her staff and pulled it out of the bag. Clint walked up, bow in hand. "Please, be careful with that thing. Don't take the gloves off unless you have to."

"It's an option, Clint. One we may need. I mean, think about it. Tony and Rhodey, definitely. Natasha and Vision. All standing between us and saving the world."

"They're still our friends, Cass. Switching on Berserker mode might not be the best choice here."

"But, then again, it might. I love you, Clint. Make it to our transpo. Get us in the air." She said, before rushing around him to Bucky. "Hey, can I ask you a couple weird favors before we head out there?"

"Uh... okay?"

"Can I get a picture with you? And your autograph? My ex is a huge fan and it would make an amazing Christmas present... assuming we survive."

"Your ex is a fan of Winter Soldier?" Bucky asked, warily.

"No. He's a Cap fanboy. One of the SHIELD agents who pulled him out of the ice. Of course, any fan of Steve's has to be a fan of his best friend. And that's who you are. To us. To the people who can see past... the filter of what HYDRA made of you."

"You were made in a HYDRA lab. That's what you said, right? Made from Red Skull's... genetic material? I remember your lab. Projekt Kind. The CSF wasn't the only experiment they did on you. They... brought you to Siberia a few times." He said, quietly, as he reached into the Beetle for a piece of paper and a Sharpie marker that was in the glove compartment. "Do you remember... the things they did?" He asked, signing his name boldly across the scrap paper.

"It's been coming back over the last two years or so. Since Loki fucked with my head. I remember bits and pieces, more and more every week." She whispered, as Bucky handed her the autograph.

"The Asgardian wasn't the first one to mess with her head." Wanda said, walking up and extending her hand. "I will take the picture. We are running out of time."

Cassie stood next to Bucky on the right, careful not to touch him, as Wanda raised the phone. Bucky's hand moved forward, slightly, grasping her left hand in his good hand just as Wanda took the picture. "When we're done here, I want to talk to you about how you live, knowing there's a bomb inside of you waiting to go off." Bucky whispered, before he disappeared from her side.

Cassie closed her eyes and took a steadying breath as Wanda handed the phone back. "A lot in common, you said?"

"I have to go." Cassie shoved the phone in her pants and stomped up next to Steve. "Ready."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Let's just go."


	4. Fight!

Cassie ran across the tarmac to keep up with Steve's tall frame jogging toward the helo. About 20 feet out, a charge hit the craft and the electricity trailed across the surface of the helicopter. The super soldiers' eyes shot upward as the sound of rupulsor boots caught their attention. War Machine and Iron Man dropped to the blacktop in front of them.

"Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport. Don't you think that's weird?" Tony quipped to Rhodey as his mask folded backward into his suit.

"Definitely weird."

"Hear me out, Tony." Steve requested. "That doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this." He stopped speaking as a man in a skintight black suit with claws, jumped over toward them.

"Captain." A deep African accent came through the cat-like mask.

"Your Highness." Steve nodded at him.

"Anyway... Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in. That was 24 hours ago. Can you help a brother out?" Tony stepped around the back of War Machine.

"You're after the wrong guy."

"Your judgement is askew." Tony bit back. "Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday."

"And there are 5 more super soldiers just like him. I can't let the doctor find 'em first, Tony. I can't."

"Steve, you know what's about to happen." Natasha walked up on their right, her heels clicking as she approached. "Do you guys really wanna punch your way out of this one?"

"Bucky didn't do this, Tony." Cassie took a single small step toward him.

"Oh, you're on first-name basis with the psycho assassin? I guess that makes sense. He's HYDRA, you're HYDRA."

Cassie scoffed, angrily. "Really, Tony? I wouldn't sign your slave contract, so now I'm a _bad_ _guy_? All the time we've known each other suddenly doesn't matter?! I'm _HYDRA_? Really?"

"It's not a slave-" Rhodes started.

Cassie's eyes shot to the gunmetal and silver suit. "You are taking orders from Secretary Thaddeus Ross, a man who was so intent on controlling the power of enhanced individuals that he almost got his daughter killed! The man is directly responsible for Abomination! Am I the only one who remembers that?! The destruction in Harlem? I betcha our buddy Banner remembers. I notice he didn't show his face to sign Secretary Thunderbolt's Accords."

"They're the UN's Accords, Cassie. International law that you refuse-" Tony started, but Cassie shook her head.

"Tony, I have a right to refuse."

"No, you don't!" Tony shouted. "You have no rights. You aren't even a person! You're a construct without a country and I'm trying to keep you out of Ross' hands. You sign and you become an agent of the UN, Ross can't touch you."

"Does Ross _know_ I'm without a country? 'Cause Phil faked my records really well." Tony just looked at her. Betrayal filled her as Natasha stared at her boots. "Great. You are just... great. You accuse me of being HYDRA and give the US military the information it needs to haul me off to some black site to be dissected-"

"I don't want that." Tony said, pain evident in his voice.

"No one wants that, Cassie. We just want you to sign so we can work together."

"Don't talk to me, Rhodes. You'd deliver me to Ross' doorstep if he called you up right now."

"Yeah, I would, 'cause I know how to follow orders."

"Yeah, well, I'm told defiance is in my blood."

"All right, I've run out of patience. Underoos!" Tony shouted. A white substance quickly grabbed Steve's shield and Cassie's staff, covering their hands tightly. The culprit landed on a baggage truck and looked up proudly with his stolen goods. "Nice job, kid."

"Thanks. Well, I could've stuck the landing a little better, it's just... new suit. It's nothing. Mr. Stark, it's perfect. Thank you."

"Yeah, we don't really need to start a conversation."

"Okay. Cap-captain. Big fan. Spider-Man."

"Yeah, we'll talk about it later, just-" Tony started.

"Hey, everyone."

"The spider kid from YouTube? _Really_?" Cassie asked, looking at Tony incredulously.

"It's Spider-Man." The kid responded.

"You're about 2 years from being _any_ kind of man. And be careful with that staff."

"You're one to talk. What are you, 21?"

"Aww! Tony, you can keep this one. But seriously, the staff is kinda dangerous, you should give it back."

"Your hands are tied in fake silk. You can't hold it." Nat snapped.

"I don't know how much rage this kid has, but you do _not_ want to be the reason that happens to him."

"What? Rage?" Spider-Man squeaked, looking at the staff.

"Berserker staff. It's dangerous. I'm repeating myself."

"You've got gloves on. You're fine, kid." Tony responded. "Don't try to scare the kid."

"'Try' implies effort, Tony. Kid's out of his depth and he knows it. He was scared before he got on the plane."

"That's- that isn't true, Mr. Stark."

"I know, Spidey. Seriously, Cass, you jealous I'm mentoring another young hero?"

She scoffed. "Of course. Because absolutely everything in the world has to do with you. I couldn't be targeting him 'cause he stole one of my Christmas presents."

"I'm gonna give it back, after the fight."

"No, you aren't. Staff's going in the vault."

"You've been busy." Steve said.

"And you've been a complete idiot. Draggin' in Cassie and Clint, 'rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even wanna leave, a safe place. I'm trying to keep..." Tony sighed deeply. "I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."

"You did that when you signed." Steve said, sadly.

Tony looked like he couldn't believe his ears, before shaking his head. "All right, we're done. You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us _now_ because it's _us_ or a squad of JSOC guys with no compunction about being impolite. Come on." Tony whispered the last sentence, the closest Cassie had ever heard to the man begging for anything.

"We found it." Sam's voice came through the comms in their ears. "Their Quinjet's in Hangar Five, North runway."

Cassie and Steve raise their hands over their heads and an arrow whizzed through the webbing holding them. "All right, Lang."

Cassie's lips twitched into a small smile as Spider-Man looked down at the shield. "Guys, something-" He was cut off as Lang suddenly grew to normal size and knocked the kid over, grabbing the shield and staff.

"Whoa. Wh-wha-what the hell was that?" Rhodey stammered as Lang ran back over to Steve.

"I believe this is yours, Captain America. And here you are, your redness."

"Aw, great. All right, there's two on the parking deck. One of 'em is Maximoff. I'm gonna grab 'er." Tony took to the air. "Rhodey, you wanna take Cap?"

"Got two in the terminal. Wilson and Barnes." Rhodey responded.

"Barnes is _mine_." T'Challa ran toward the building before War Machine was fully in flight.

Steve tossed his shield at War Machine and ran after the King as Cassie twisted and twirled her staff into a defensive position, looking from Rhodes to Natasha. "Cassie, stand down. We don't have to do this." Natasha was using her sweet voice, the one she used on men who didn't know she was about to bite their heads off.

"I don't want to, but I also don't want an empire to fall, so... you weigh the difference, Nat." She took a circular step sideways as Natasha did the same.

"Come on. You just got engaged. You really wanna throw down with half the wedding party right now?"

"Life or death kinda trumps reception shit. You woulda made Clint an awesome Maid of Honor but I don't see that happening, now."

"We're still friends, Cassie. Don't write this off, yet." Natasha gave her small smirk as a repulsor blast hit Cassie in the back.

Cassie rolled forward and broke into a sprint, running after Spider-Man. She jumped onto a fuel truck and launched herself through the broken pane of glass that Spider-Man had swung through. Bucky was watching as Falcon and the spider fought back and forth. "You okay, Barnes?"

"You see this kid?"

"Calls himself 'Spider-Man'. Shoulda stayed home." Cassie said, pulling up a glass encasement that housed a map of the airport. "How's your aim?"

Bucky shrugged and picked up the case, tossing it at Spider-Man who was in the rafters, then pulling Cassie behind a pillar. "Hey, Buddy. I think you lost this!" The case crashed into the pillar, and Cassie shook the glass from her hair as Falcon grabbed the kid's attention and they went flying. Falcon crashed into an information kiosk and was suddenly webbed to a railing. "Those wings carbon fiber?"

"Is this stuff comin' out of you?" Sam looked from one hand to the other as Cassie and Bucky snuck closer.

"That would explain the rigidity/flexibility ratio, which, gotta say that's awesome, man."

"I don't know if you've been in a fight before, but there's usually not this much talking."

"All right. Sorry. My bad." The spider jumped from his perch and swung at Sam, but Bucky ran to take the brunt of the the impact, both ending up being pushed through the railing. Bucky's metal prosthetic was suddenly webbed to the ground and Sam's upper body was covered. "Guys, look, I'd love to keep this up, but I've only got one job here today and I've gotta impress Mr. Stark, so I'm really sorry." As he went to web them up further, Redwing flew by and grabbed him, flying out the window and away from them.

Cassie jumped down and started to cut away at the webbing on Sam. "You couldn't have done that earlier?" Bucky complained as Sam sat up.

"I hate you." Sam responded.

"Oh, come on. Get along, boys. Steve loves all of us." Cassie smirked as she helped Bucky. "I'm his favorite." She called over her shoulder as an explosion rocked the building. "Come on, we're missing the fun!" She ran for hangar five, meeting up with Clint, Wanda, Scott and Steve as she, Sam and Bucky ran. A laser cutting across the concrete in front of them stopped them short and forced them to look up at Vision.

"Captain Rogers. I know you believe what you're doing is right. But for the collective good... you must surrender now." As Vision spoke, Tony, Natasha, Spider-Man, Rhodes and T'Challa joined him.

"What do we do, Cap?" Sam asked, a bit intimidated by the show of force in front of them.

"We fight." Steve started marching forward and his team fell seamlessly into step. The march turned into a jog as Tony's side started forward, as well. Cassie jumped at Vision first, grabbing an taser arrow Clint had shot out of the air and stabbing it into the android's chest. She rolled out of the air and ran for the Quinjet, running past Clint and Natasha, who were not actually fighting.

Rhodes dropped down in front of her, repulsors ready. "Girl, you need to calm down and look at this. You can still sign, this can all be over. Ross never needs-" Cassie jammed her staff into the concrete and used it to leverage herself into a flying kick, which landed on War Machine's chest.

"Ross is never getting his hands on me, regardless! I'd kill myself before I let him dissect me to figure out how I run." She bounced off of him and went running, eventually being grabbed by Vision and flown into the sky. "Shit, Vis, I did not request a magic carpet."

"You need to surrender, Miss Campbell."

Cassie laughed. "Comedy's not your strong suit, Vision. Don't quit the day job." She said, pushing against his arms. The robot didn't relinquish his hold, barely moving as she began to punch his face, over and over. "Man! Let. Me. Go!" She pulled her escrima sticks out and started bashing him with them. He looked annoyed as he dropped her on the other side of the fighting and grabbed her staff from it's discarded location. Cassie shook her head and ran for the hangar.

"We gotta go. That guy's probably in Siberia by now." Bucky came through her headset.

"We gotta draw out the flyers. I'll take Vision. You get to the jet." Steve responded.

"No, _you_ get to the jet! Both of you." Sam ordered. "The rest of us aren't getting out of here."

"As much as I hate to admit it, if we're gonna win this one, some of us might have to lose it." Clint reasoned.

"Damn. They're right, Steve. You and Barnes are the ones who have to get out of here." Cassie hated it. She knew that losing would put her in a bad place, but... what could she do?

"This isn't the real fight, Steve." Sam came through again.

"All right, Sam. What's the play?"

"We need a diversion. Something big."

"I got something kinda big. But I can't hold it very long. On my signal, run like hell, and if I tear myself in half, don't come back for me." Scott said.

"He's gonna tear himself in half?" Bucky asked.

"You sure about this, Scott?"

"I do it all the time."

"Don't lie to us, Lang." Cassie said, dodging T'Challa's claws. "Shit, your highness! Please, calm the fuck down."

"Where is Barnes?" T'Challa demanded.

"Man, I don't know. Here. Somewhere." She rolled out of the way, purposely trying to direct the king's attention away from Hangar Five.

"I mean, once. In a lab. Then I passed out. I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the boss." Scott chanted in her ear. Her eyes widened as she stared up at the suddenly giant Scott Lang, who grabbed Rhodes from the air. She was in complete shock that didn't dissipate until she felt a shot of web hit her. It took almost no time for her to be completely covered in webbing and stuck to the ground.

"Cassie!" Steve's voice hit her ears.

"Keep going, jerk. I was going down in this fight, anyway, remember? Get to Siberia, stop that guy from waking up the other Winter Soldiers."

"I'll come back for you." Steve promised.

"You better. I was retired."

"Liar." Steve chuckled as Cassie closed her eyes, half happy that her fight was over.

*********************************

Cassie looked down as she was walked into her cell. The guards pulled the door closed and walked away. She put her hands on the glass and looked across at Clint. "At least I get to _see_ you."

"It would've been nice if they let me room with my fiancée."

"Have you been in prison before, Clint? Not usually a lot of nice." Scott said, leaning against his glass.

Cassie blew a kiss to Clint and put her hands up, signing to him. ***Steve will fix this***

Clint shook his head. ***Maybe not. We broke an international law***

***A stupid law. To save lives. And I didn't see the spider kid's name on the Accords***

"Hey. You wanna share with the rest of the class?" Sam called out.

"It's just pillow talk. Thought we'd make you uncomfortable saying all this out loud." Clint said. ***So, you and barns. What was that***

Cassie rolled her eyes. ***Really? Dial back the jealousy. Kindred spirits. H-Y-D-R-A washed both of our brains.***

***And it had nothing to do with those big blue eyes*  
**

"Jesus Christ, Clint, do you want the ring back?! I'm sure I could get one of the guards to bring it to you."

"Whoa. That doesn't sound like pillow talk. Sounds like my ex-wife." Scott said, standing to lean against his glass.

"Well, you were kinda... heavy with the meaningful eye contact." Clint ignored Scott, focusing across the room at his fiancee.

"I told you. We both had HYDRA dig around in our brains." She shook her head. "I'm not even talking about Joanna, Clint. Joanna is a middle ground between who I am and who... There are... programs in my head. Code words, just like his, rattling around in there. What Wanda said, on the way to Sokovia last year..."

"Hidden pieces of you, leaking?"

Cassie nodded, before sitting on the bed. "I've started to remember the labs. Playground, back when it was der Spielplatz. And the one in Russia that they're heading for now. The things they did to me there... they did a lot of experiments on me. They wanted a perfect warrior at the head of HYDRA." Cassie wiped at her eyes. "I could be that. I could be Winter Soldier or Sinthea. Or worse. I don't know what my programming is. I don't know who I am when I am what HYDRA wanted me to be, but it scares me. Bucky... would understand. And I'm sorry that, that makes you uncomfortable or jealous or whatever, Clint, but... the closest you've ever come to what I have is when Loki hit you with that scepter... and I've got that experience under my belt two-fold. Bucky understands. Nat... Nat understands, too. Why do you think we bonded? I got tipsy and blurted out my fears. She was so good about it."

"Cass..."

"I know I'm not your fiance, but I'm tellin' you, as someone who's seen both sides of Bucky Barnes... you're right to be scared, but you need to lean on those around you. Make sure your code words never get uttered." Sam said.

"Probably best to stay out of Germany, too." Scott said. "In case the words get uttered accidentally."

"I don't think that's gonna be a problem, Scott." Clint spat at the cell next to his, before turning his focus back to Cassie. "I don't want the ring back. I don't ever want that ring anywhere except your finger."

She nodded and sighed. "So... how do you think it's going out there?"

"We won't know until we know."

Cassie turned and put her feet up, lying back on the bed, she began to sing to herself.

" _Der Mond ist aufgegangen,_  
Die goldnen Sternlein prangen  
Am Himmel hell und klar;  
Der Wald steht schwarz und schweiget,  
Und aus den Wiesen steiget  
Der weiße Nebel wunderbar."

As she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to take her, she let her singing become a melodic hum.


	5. Amnesty

Tony entered the cell block, his left arm in a sling and his right eye blacked. Cassie stood, walking to her cell door. She wanted to be mad at him. Here she was, in a black site prison, but... it was her fault. Clint started a purposely obnoxious clap. "The Futurist, everyone! The Futurist is here. He sees all! He knows what's best for you, whether you like it or not." 

Tony stomped up to Clint's cell. "Give me a break, Barton. I had no idea they'd put you here. Come on."

Clint spit on the ground of his cell. "Yeah, well, you knew they'd put us somewhere, Tony."

"Yeah, but not some super-max floating ocean pokey. You know, this place is for maniacs. This is a place for-"

"Criminals?" Clint provided. He stood from his kneeling position and stepped to Tony. "Criminals, Tony. Think that's the word you're looking for. That didn't used to mean me. Not for a long time. Definitely not Sam or Wanda, or Cass. But here we are."

"'Cause you broke the law."

"Yeah." Clint walked away and started in with, 'Lalalalala' over Tony's words.

"I didn't make you. You read it, you broke it. All right, you're all grown up. You've got a fiancee, a sister-in-law and her kids who depend on you. I don't understand. Why didn't you think about them before you chose the wrong side?"

Clint stood as Tony started around the cell block, anger on his face. "You gotta watch your back with this guy." He hit the bars on the cell. "There's a chance he's gonna break it."

"Hank Pym always said 'You never can trust a Stark'." Scott said.

"Who are you?" Tony asked as he continued.

"Come on, man."

"How's Rhodes?" Sam asked, not turning to Tony.

"They're flying him to Columbia Medical tomorrow, so... fingers crossed. What do you need? They feed you yet?"

Sam turned around, his arms crossed over his chest. "You're the good cop, now?"

"I'm just the guy who needs to know where Steve went."

"Well, you better go be a bad cop..." Sam dropped his hands and stepped toward the bars. "... 'Cause you're gonna have to go Mark Fuhrman on my ass to get information outta me."

"Well, I just knocked the 'A' out of their AV. We got about 30 seconds before they realize it's not their equipment. Just look. Because that is the fella who was supposed to interrogate Barnes. Clearly, I made a mistake. Sam, I was wrong."

"That's a first."

"Cap is definitely off the reservation but he's about to need all the help he can get. We don't know each other very well, you don't have to-"

"Hey, it's all right. Look, I'll tell you, but you have to go _alone_ and as a friend."

"Easy."

"There's an old abandoned Hydra base in Siberia. You can probably find the actual location in Cassie's file. She was there at least a few times."

"Thank you." Tony tapped on his watch and circled around to Cassie's cell. "And how are they treating you?"

Cassie sighed. "You remember how I grew up, don't you, Tony? They haven't started dissecting me so... this is nothing compared to the Fridge."

"Well, don't act so comfy. They might stop talking amnesty for you if-"

"What amnesty?" Clint called out.

"Yeah, Ross' PR people are cringing at the thought of someone finding out that they put a pregnant superhero in a cell for doing her job." 

"Pregnant?" Cassie asked, her hand going to her belly. "I'm not-"

"Oh, I thought you knew. Congratulations."

"Cass, you're... you didn't know?" Clint called across the block.

"I'm not even late, yet." She whispered.

"Scans don't lie. Ross did a full workup on you when you got here, remember?" 

"They're gonna let her go?" Clint asked, excited.

"They're working the bugs out now, but it looks like amnesty for her... as long as she signs the Accords." Tony finished, quickly, stepping toward the entrance to the cell block. "Ring on your finger says you might need to discuss with your wife, Cassie, but I think the answer is pretty clear. Is it worth signing the UN's 'slave contract' if it means your kid is born free and clear in the country of your choosing instead of being born in this prison and being sent to one of those creepy European orphanages?"

"She'll sign." Clint called after Tony.

"Excuse me?" Cassie asked.

Clint looked across the cell block at her. "If they offer you amnesty, you take it. My kid isn't being born in a prison. You sign, you walk, you give birth in a bathtub at the farmhouse, like Laura did."

"No. Are you kidding me? Clint, I can't leave you guys. I'm the reason you and Lang are here!"

"We made our choice. I've got a daughter. I wouldn't want her anywhere near this place." Scott smiled. "Sign the papers. Get out of here."

"Tony, tell Ross she'll sign!" Clint called.

"Can do, Katniss."

Cassie sat on her bed and stared at the floor. "Can't believe... really?"

"Hey! Ross! Get my girl an extra pillow!" Clint yelled. 

"I don't need all that, Babe." 

"I find this to be one of my better deceptions." Loki shimmered into being in front of her. "One which actually has a _good_ end for you."

"Go away." She whispered, barely audible. Tears pricked at her eyes, the idea of motherhood being torn away from her _again_ hurting her to her soul. 

"Don't you want to know how I fooled their scanners, secured your release?"

"You're you, that's how. I don't need a play-by-play on how you tricked everyone into thinking I'm... go away."

Loki's visage leaned over her. "You are disappointing me, Joanna. I have put a monumental amount of effort into you, and I am growing weary of your rebuffs." He stood straight, disappearing, but his voice came again. "When you are released, I will find you and we will speak of this again."

Cassie looked up as the door to the cell block opened and Secretary Ross walked up to Cassie's door. "Sign the papers, Joanna. Your Captain Rogers might need your help." Cassie took a deep breath and stood. Loki was right. She needed to leave, if only so that she could bring Steve back to save the others.

"Miss Schmidt. Or do you prefer 'Campbell'?" Ross asked.

"You know what I prefer, _Thunderbolt_. You've got my file. And Tony informed on us, I'm sure." Cassie smiled. " _You_ can call me 'Red Queen'."

Ross scoffed, opening a folder in his hand. "You went on only two missions with the Avengers?"

"I didn't count. I helped liberate Loki's scepter from HYDRA and I helped in the battle of Sokovia. So... sure. Two."

"You weren't in Lagos last month. You haven't been with the team _since_ Sokovia. Why is that?"

Cassie shook her head and chuckled. "A friend died and I gained... perspective. Life's short. I went back to school. I got engaged. I wanted to live a little before I got back to saving other people's lives."

"Got yourself pregnant, too. Very early first trimester. It's amazing, after the beating you took in Leipzig, that you didn't miscarry."

"I didn't. Take a beating. I _gave_ several."

"You're proud. Too proud to sign the Accords."

"That's not about pride. That's about right."

"You don't believe the United Nations are capable of picking the right fights for you?"

"Get to your point, Ross. Tony already threw the word 'amnesty' at me."

The guard standing next to him handed Ross a large stack of papers. "You sign the Accords, become an official Avenger again, you get a full pardon for the events in Leipzig and a chopper ride back to the States so your kid can be a US citizen, even if you aren't. We might even be willing to fast-track a naturalization certificate for you."

"And I don't do anything helpful for anyone unless I've got your A-okay. Fine. Whatever. Give me a pen." Cassie said, hands on her hips. The guard opened the cell door and Ross handed Cassie the paperwork and a pen. She swallowed, nervously as she flipped over to the page with the transparent blue tape marker. She slapped the papers on the wall and scrawled her signature across the line above where 'Joanna Schmidt/Cassandra Campbell, et al' was printed below. She handed the stack to Ross and stepped past him. "I'd like my passport back, and you can drop me off in Berlin. I have a ticket home, commercial, and I'd rather that money not go to waste. Oh, and... my staff."

"Your staff put down two of my men in Germany."

"I warned them. Told them to wear gloves. They didn't listen. Not my fault. I'll meet you at the helipad. Go grab my stuff." She said, stomping away from the men. 

*******************

"Where are they? I know you know." Cassie asked, as Loki appeared next to her in the café at the Berlin airport. 

"Where they are now doesn't matter much. The fight is over. Rogers and his friend are in their stolen jet, heading to Egypt. Now, ask me why I'm telling you this?"

"I know why. You're hoping that might endear you to me." Cassie picked up her coffee cup and took a drink. "Where in Egypt?"

"Outside Cairo."

Cassie stood. "This won't endear you to me, Loki. You think that helping me out of prison and telling me where Steve and Bucky are... that that's gonna erase everything you did in the past?"

Loki smirked. "I know you think of me. And one day, I will take you with me to Asgard and you will be my queen."

"Right. I'm sure you're looking forward to that." Cassie started to walk toward the ticket counter, staff slung over her back.

"What do you suppose _your_ words are? How hard do you think it would be to find them?" 

She stopped in her tracks, her jaw tightening in rage. "I don't think you'd like the woman those words would conjure."

"Ah, but I  _know_ you wouldn't like her. That alone is worth the search."

"And there he is. The God who thinks he owns me." She said, walking away.

********

The hotel was a piece of shit, but Cassie couldn't expect much from a pay-by-the-hour with no security. She sat in the single plain wooden chair and put her feet up on the twin bed furthest from the door. "You two look like shit. Siberia didn't treat you well, I take it?" She dropped her feet to the wood floor and stood as the soldiers walked in.

Steve let out a scoffing laugh as he handed a bag of food to Bucky and rushed forward to hug her. "Cassie. How did you escape arrest? You were covered in that webbing stuff when I saw you last."

"I didn't. They pardoned me." She looked down. "I signed. I had to." 

"And your first action was to come find us? Should we be worried?" Bucky asked, setting the food on the one wobbly round table.

"Of course not. I told Ross I was going home. I shook the tail he put on me back in Berlin, boarded a plane here under a new alias that... Loki provided."

Steve's face showed his surprise. "Loki? You're accepting help from Loki?"

"Unfortunately. He thinks it will... make me _want_ to be with him if he helps me. Don't worry. It won't work." She smiled, turning to Bucky and grasping the knotted-up fabric that hung loose from his left sleeve. "What happened to your arm, Sergeant?"

"Mini arc reactor incident." He answered, his eyes lighting up a bit at being called 'Sergeant'.

"Tony didn't go there as a friend, did he?" Cassie growled. "I knew it. That lying bastard."

"No. He did. But it was a set-up. The whole thing was orchestrated by Zemo to get the three of us at that lab so that he could pit us all against each other." Steve sat on the bed bed furthest from the door.

"How?"

"HYDRA was responsible for Howard and Maria Stark's deaths." Steve started, but Bucky shook his head.

"Don't sugar-coat it, Steve. I killed them. Stark had a serum, like the one that made Steve what he is. My mission was to get the package, leave no witnesses."

"That wasn't your fault."

"Is that supposed to change it, Steve?" Bucky snapped.

"He gave me his name, rank and social." Cassie said, blinking rapidly to combat the tears. "This _terrified_ SHIELD agent, who I'm sure was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, ended up in front of a 9 year old girl with a gun. Paul Patrick Mackenzie, SHIELD level 5, 652-15-2283. He repeated it over and over, but I never asked him a question. It wasn't an interrogation."

Steve looked at his feet, but Bucky looked down and gained eye-contact. "Strucker, he put a gun in my hand and told me where to shoot. Nonlethal, at first. Right bicep, left patellar tendon, bullet stigmata through both of his hands. Each scream followed by his mantra. 'Paul Patrick Mackenzie, SHIELD level 5, 652-15-2283'." Cassie let the tears roll down her face, unimpeded. "After Wolfgang put that knife in my hand, though, Mackenzie was begging to be asked questions. He started _volunteering_ information when I dug into his thigh until I felt bone. When he started praying, that's when Strucker had me collapse his lungs. Just stood there, watching him dry-drown."

"You were just a kid." Steve whispered, but he couldn't hide the horror in his voice.

"I was a monster!" Cassie snapped. "No one would have blamed him if Fury had offed me when he found me. He _knew_ what I was. He knew that there were code words that would take me from isolated lab experiment to cold-blooded murderer in an instant. He thought he could save me. He looked at me and saw a child, but he knew it was a trap. So, he took me, put me in a cell while he tried to... wipe me clean, baptise me in the waters of SHIELD but I am still just a bomb waiting to go off." She wiped at her nose with her palm. "It's leaking. That's what Wanda called it. Hidden parts of me leaking. And I can't control it. I don't know how much more is in here that I can't remember yet, how much more blood is on my hands, and I don't want to remember it. You said you wanted to talk about how I deal with this? I don't. I've just been pretending that I don't realize... haven't even told my... Barton. He's sitting in jail and he thinks I'm gonna have his baby, but I can't... I can't bring a child into this world. Monsters shouldn't procreate. Bombs shouldn't-"

Bucky wrapped his arm around her, pulled her close and she buried her face in his chest. Steve looked at them from his bed. Two sides of the same coin, both terrified of who HYDRA made them to be. Bucky smiled softly as he ran his hand down her back. "Been a long time since I had my arm around a beautiful woman. Might be a ring on your finger and tears on my shirt, but... I'll take it."

Cassie chuckled and pulled back, wiping at her nose again. "So, what's the plan here? You didn't come to Egypt for the weather."

"No. We got an invitation to Wakanda. But, since we're wanted men..."

"You ditched the jet in the desert and trekked here to supply and rest up before the two week trip to Wakanda's border."

"Two weeks?" Steve asked, standing. "We can make that in 9 days."

"But we don't want to. Low profile." Bucky smiled and sat on the first bed. "She's right. Two weeks is a good goal."

"Will you be joining us, Cass? I hear Wakanda's beautiful this time of year." 

"You thought I came all this way just to get Bucky's shirt salty? Of course, I'm coming with you." She pulled a plum from the bag and rubbed it against her shirt. "Besides, I hear Wakanda is beautiful all year round."

"Well, it'll be more beautiful once you arrive." Bucky smirked up at her.

"Wow! I've heard you were smooth, Sergeant, but I never thought I'd be on the receiving end."

"She's engaged, Buck." Steve said, looking at his boots.

"And I'm 4 times her age, Steve. Doesn't mean I can't flirt with her."

"You both look great for your years. Have I mentioned that, lately?" Cassie winked at the men as she took a bite of the plum.

"Come on, Cassie. I don't think Barton would approve of..."

"Barton is... a great man. He hits what he aims for. But he doesn't keep things well. Besides, he's not here to get mad at me for winking at a pair of war heroes."

"You know, I like her. She's not one to let us forget our Howling Commando days."

"That's important. The distinction between Bucky Barnes and... the Winter Soldier. You aren't that Soldier, anymore." Cassie sat in the plain chair again.

"Until someone finds those words again and-" Bucky pursed his lips in anger.

"That's not gonna happen." Steve leaned back on the bed, his hands folded behind his head.

"Zemo found the book, someone else could, too."

"Do you think my words are-" Cassie started.

"Let's... move on. We're heading out tomorrow morning. You should rest up, too, Cass."

Cassie smiled and gestured at the room. "Two beds. So, unless you boys wanna cuddle each other, I'll doze in the chair. We're gonna be sleeping in a tent for the next 2 weeks so... better get used to being uncomfortable."

"We can't let you-" Bucky started.

"Seriously? I'm probably not even going to sleep much. I haven't been sleeping much lately anyway."

"You haven't?" Steve asked, worry in his tone.

"Nope. I can always tell when I'm heading for a deep depression. Sleep disturbances are the first sign. That, and a desire to crawl into a bottle and never come back out. Couldn't do the second half with Clint around, though, so I taught myself how to paint, spent hours doing photo mosaics, anything to distract myself from... my thoughts." She sighed. "Anyway, you guys go to sleep. You two need it more than me. Tony must've beaten your asses."

"Thanks." Steve said, sarcastically, closing his eyes.

"Honest. I like _that_ in a woman, too." Bucky said.

"Oh, Barnes, you're gonna have to stop. I'm a good woman and you're makin' me wish I wasn't." She put her feet up on Steve's bed and leaned her head back.

"Even though I've only got the one arm?" 

"Yeah, well, it's your dominant arm, isn't it?"

"Please. Stop." Steve asked, not opening his eyes.

"Sorry, Steve. I haven't had an opportunity like this since... before the war."

"Steve's just upset 'cause he's too polite to flirt with me since Clint laid his claim." Cassie nudged Cap's foot with her own. 

"Oh, really?"

"That's not true."

"Hey, you've got that blonde CIA dame, right? Sharon." 

"Living history. The man just used 'dame' in a sentence, unironically." Cassie chuckled and closed her eyes. "This is gonna be fun."

"All right, Campbell. Make fun of the old guys." Steve said, nudging her foot back.

"Oh, don't worry. I will."


	6. Africa

"You're sure that you are okay walking this whole way?" Bucky asked as the sun started to go down on the second day of their trip. They hadn't slept, yet, and it was evident in their attitudes.

"Barnes, don't ask again. I'm just as genetically gifted as you and Steve are. Just because I'm a woman-"

"Hey, it's not that. I'm just... guess I don't know much about your abilities, so..."

"How about we make camp? We could use the rest." Steve suggested, dropping his bag on the ground.

"I'll get a fire going."

"And I can regale you with my back story while I set up the tent. You know, the stuff after HYDRA." Cassie dropped her bag. "See, Fury stormed Der Spielplatz with 50 men and grabbed everyone. I think it was called Operation Playtime Distortion. A rescue operation for Agent Mackenzie. They found my files before they found me. I remember the look on Fury's face when he walked into the sub-level and found me, sitting on my bed, confused. He took me and cuffed me and put me on a plane to the Fridge. Fridge was a place where they put dangerous people, dangerous items. I was there for 10 years. Fury didn't want to let me go. For good reason. He read the file. He knew what was buried in my head. 10 years of SHIELD captivity, though, and I never showed it. When I was 18, I started a relationship with an agent, he convinced Fury to... got him to consider letting me out. It took two more years of considering, but eventually, he let me out." 

Cassie rolled the tent out and grabbed the poles. "I mean, I really _thought_ I was normal. I mean, I knew I was Red Skull's daughter, but I thought of it more as... Johann Schmidt was the sperm donor, you know? I wasn't a Nazi. I was just a girl. I couldn't remember the HYDRA labs by the time I was 18 and I'd never shown any abnormal physiology. Except the lack of a belly button, I was just like everyone else. I thought, maybe, they'd just fucked up at the lab and used sperm from before he injected himself with Super Soldier Serum or the changes in his genes couldn't be passed down. Maybe it just wasn't in me, you know. I was okay with that. It meant I could focus on the goals I had for after I got out of the Fridge." Cassie pushed the first set of poles through the tent and grabbed the second set. "I wanted to get out, get a degree, get a job, get married, have a baby. I was halfway to a degree by the time I got out of the Fridge. My boyfriend got me started on the baby. He didn't know that, though. I didn't tell him. Would've just been... complicated. We were done by then. I dropped out of college and moved to New York, just in time for Loki to rain down a storm of aliens on our heads. I didn't have to deal with the Chitauris, though. No, I got to contend with the Asgardian prince, himself... when he pulled me out from under the lab table where I was hiding and used his scepter to put me in a trance. Somehow, he unlocked what was in me. Not mentally, not then, anyway. No, he unlocked my genetics. Suddenly strong, agile, Olympic-level athlete. Sound familiar?"

"So, he made you a super soldier?" Bucky asked, as the fire started.

"Not really. I was a super lab tech. Super... rape victim. Super... broken." She smiled, sadly. "Super alcoholic. I spent almost all of my money on booze that year. Takes a lot to get me drunk. I assume you guys have a similar issue."

"Haven't tried. I was afraid of what might... happen." Bucky answered.

"I tried, in '44 when Bucky fell off the train. Only drank one bottle, though. Might've worked if I drank more." Steve said.

"Gotta drink fast. I've found that 2 bottles of strong, cheap whiskey are enough to get me drunk... for about an hour and a half. Which was usually enough to get me to sleep for a while. I fell into a deep spiral for a year. Loki killed my daughter, raped me, carved his name into my chest... it didn't seem like there was good in life."

"Been there." Bucky muttered, pulling some food out of his bag.

"Anyway, uh, Clint showed up after about a year of me... bottling everything up in whiskey. He was nice. He saw the potential in me, knew my damage, or rather the damage Loki caused... but he tried to help me find myself, anyway. Unfortunately, Loki noticed. He didn't like that I was spending time with another man. He doesn't _ever_ like when I spend time with other men. He's not thrilled that I'm out here with you."

"Loki's watching us?" Steve asked, standing straight and looking around.

"He's watching me. Always. The psycho thinks I'm his queen, he's gonna have an eye on me. Well, I'm sure he can't watch me _all_ the time, but... anyway." Cassie pushed the stakes into the ground one by one. "Loki showed up with the scepter again, put me in a trance. Steve was there for this part. He made me Joanna. Now, when I came to, after a couple weeks of following Loki around as Joanna, I thought I was evil. I thought Joanna was evil, but she wasn't. She just didn't have all of my hangups. I talked to a shrink and was convinced that I wasn't evil. Joanna was just me without my inhibitions. But when I first woke up, I was positive that I was devil-spawn. I ran away, to Austria. I spe-"

"She left the base in a hospital gown. No shoes, nothing. We were in the Alps, Buck, but she survived, made it down the mountain without even a hint of frostbite." Steve sounded proud.

"I didn't know that you were so impressed by that." Cassie mumbled.

"Of course I was. We thought you were dead after the first few days, but... Clint found you."

"Only after Loki got his hands on me, again." Cassie looked at the tent and sighed. It was definitely gonna be a tight fit. "Anyway, lived the simple life in Austria for a few months. Worked at this little diner and relearned German, 'cause when Fury steamrolled my HYDRA indoctrination, he felt the need to rid me of my Mother Tongue. Horrible nightmares, spiral of depression and sadness, found God but that wasn't hard since I was sleeping in the closet of the local mission. Loki found me and had his way with me again, disguised as the priest who'd talked me off the ledge every morning for 2 months. He didn't have his scepter this time, though, so I was able to fight back and then, I ran, straight into Clint, who brought me back. Blah, blah, blah, identity issues. Blah, blah my ex sent me to a shrink, I realized that Joanna wasn't evil, just tired of being held back by my indecisive nature and I finally had a purpose beyond making up for the family legacy. Became an Avenger, Clint started teaching me Operations stuff, and... I started remembering. Muscle memory kicked in first. The way I field-stripped my pistol, how well I moved during sparring sessions. I held it off, tried to focus on the 'now', but... when I told Pietro Maximoff that I'd never killed anyone, I got the first flash of... Agent Mackenzie. It wasn't much but it made me see that, if I kept going the way I was, there was no way I would ever be the person I thought I was when I was in the Fridge. I'd remember more and become more of this... other person. This 'worse than Joanna' person. So, I went on hiatus, went back to school."

"Until I called you into this." Steve said, guiltily.

"Steve, I kept remembering, anyway. Remember Christmas? I wasn't sleeping, freaked out when I cut into the ham. It wasn't being an Avenger that was doing it, it was everything. It was living."

Steve nodded, standing straight. "Hey, Buck, you wanna come with me, do a perimeter check?" Bucky followed without a word.

*********************

"So, how'd you end up with the _archer_?" Bucky asked, eating his spaghetti MRE.

"Hey. Don't say it like that. Archery's sexy." She defended, eating a cracker. "Um, I don't know. He's nice and charismatic. He's a relentless flirt. He was workin' me from the moment I met him. I think, though, that when I started to be confused about who I was, I needed to be with someone who knew what I thought, at the time, was the real me. 'Cause Clint surveilled me for Fury off and on for two years, he knew all about me. The happy, optimist with the flare for science that's gotta be genetic. I needed that. I... liked his bluntness. And he wanted to fix me."

"That's the basis of your relationship? Doesn't seem very strong to me."

"Well, sex is a factor." Cassie responded, eliciting a deep blush on Steve's face.

"Oh, come on, Steve. People are going to think you're a virgin if you act like that." Bucky teased.

"He's not one?"

"Buck..." Steve warned.

"Nah. I got him laid during the war. He had his heart set on Agent Carter, but his loins were just fine with this pretty French girl."

"Well... Clint and Tony owe me 10 dollars."

"You bet on whether I was a virgin?" Steve asked. Cassie just shrugged. "Sophie was a very nice girl. I would've written her but, you know, frozen in a block of ice."

"A nice girl? I thought, in your day, nice girls waited 'til marriage."

"She was French." Bucky said, with a shrug. 

"Much more liberal in France than America, back then." Steve explained.

"Oh. Good to know, I guess. Wait, so... just one?"

"Why does it matter? I mean, one is better than what you thought, right?"

"Actually, I assumed you'd have had several since you thawed out. I mean, look at you. In a society like today's, you being amazingly handsome and heroic... figured you'd at least been talked into a couple one night stands."

The blush spread across Steve's face like wildfire. "Even I've gotten laid since you've been thawed out." Bucky mentioned.

"Oh, so the thing about not having a woman in your arms since the 40s, that was just a line?"

"I said a 'beautiful woman'. Ludmilla was a troll."

Cassie laughed. "Really? You needed to get some so bad that you had sex with a troll named 'Ludmilla'?"

"In my defense, I was breaking a 70 year abstinence."

Cassie smirked as she turned to Steve. "What about you? Have you broken that three quarters of a century abstinence, yet?"

"I really don't think this is an appropriate-"

"Romanoff? CIA Agent Carter?" Cassie asked. 

Steve sighed. "There was a SHIELD agent. She asked me for coffee, we went to dinner, she got a little... needful."

"'Needful' equals 'horny', right?" Cassie asked Bucky, who nodded.

"That was a few months before SHIELD fell. Haven't seen her since." Steve finished quickly.

"Are you okay? Steve?"

"I just realized that she may have been HYDRA."

"I'm sure she wasn't-" Cassie started, but Bucky interrupted.

"Might've been."

"Well, she didn't kill you in your sleep, so you can probably count on her not being HYDRA."

"Well, I didn't... sleep."

"You dog, you."

"All right, all right. Finish up your food and we'll bed down." Steve turned away with a blush.

***************

Cassie lay on her side, her back to Bucky and Steve. The tent was small. They'd only been expecting to need room for two. She tried to make herself as small as possible, but her feet kept touching Bucky's legs, her ass brushing against him every time she moved a bit for comfort. Or maybe it was the other way. Maybe he was touching her. 

A few minutes after Steve's breathing deepened and slowed, Cassie felt Bucky shift, turning over to lie on his left side. "You smell good." He whispered, his hand moving over to rest on her hip. "Which is absurd because we've been sweating for two days." 

"Pheromones are in the natural scent of a person." She whispered back, unsure of what to say. "I have been wearing antiperspirant, though. Just... saying." She swallowed as his hand began to drift up, fingertips playing with the hem of her shirt.

"Steve told me to back off. I get why. How we were raised...back then, it was more than just a low move to make a pass at another man's girl, especially if he put a ring on her finger." His hand slipped under her shirt and rested, heavily, above the thick circular scar she gave herself to represent a navel when she was 18. "But you're not like any woman I've met. You're not like the women from the 40s, but you... you're not meant for 2016, either. I've been through so many decades and... here you are. This beautiful dame who sees what little good is left in me."

"I saw it 15 years ago, when you brought the CSF to the Playground. You were so cold and emotionless. Strong and stoic, but when you saw me, strapped down to the table in a fetal position so they could do an LP and inject the CSF, you flinched. Refused to give a mission report. They had to call in your handler."

"I couldn't believe they were experimentng on you. So young. I thought they were gonna break you, and they did. I wish I could have stopped them."

"It's not your fault. I know you would have stopped them, if you could." She turned over to face him, forcing his fingers to move over her side and settle in the small of her back. "You are, absolutely, a good man, Buck."

He shook his head a little, his hair tickling her forehead as it moved. "A good man wouldn't have spent the last two days pining after another man's fiancée."

"And a good woman wouldn't be so excited to hear that. I guess neither of us are perfect."

"To me, you are. As close to perfect as a man can touch." Bucky brought his hand up to pull a sweaty lock of hair from her forehead and place it back with the rest of her blond mop.

"Bucky... I meant what I said in Germany. If there were a man who might take me away from Clint, it'd be you."

"I... we better turn back over." Bucky's hand returned to her back, though. "If Steve sees this, he'll start a fight and I'm a bit disadvantaged at the moment."

"I'd protect you."

Bucky smiled and rubbed a circle in the small of her back with his thumb. "We've got two weeks 'til Wakanda. Plenty of time to piss off the Captain." He pulled his hand back and rolled over again.

*************************

As they were walking, Cassie's bag began to ring. "You brought a phone?" Steve asked as she dropped the pack and started to dig through it.

"Cool your jets, Rogers. I'm not an idiot." She said, pulling out an old Nokia cell phone with a thick antenna. 

"Whoa. Even I know that's ancient tech." Bucky said, looking at it.

"Ancient, but functional. Not working on the same systems as the new stuff. No GPS. If I keep the call short, they won't even be able to ping the mobile towers. Had to steal it from a museum, but it's tactically sound." Cassie hit the button and held it to her ear. "Moshi moshi?"

"Cassie? Japanese?"

"Phil? Wha-what's going on?"

"I was wondering if I could use you on something, kinda world-ending important... Mack says he can't get a location on your cell. Where are you?"

"Phil, it's a... it's a long story, but, uh... I'll get back to you."

"No! Don't hang up! I wouldn't be calling if I didn't need..."

"Is that Coulson?" Steve asked. Bucky looked between them, unaware of who that may be.

"Is that Captain America?" Phil came through the phone.

"Yeah, it is." She answered both of them. "Look, I can't stay on the phone. I know your techs are running their traces and they'll be pinging a tower any minute now. I can't let you find me. I'm actually pretty damn busy."

"I have an Inhuman parasite in the body of a man I killed working to destroy the world. He's infected Daisy and taken control of her, I think this is a little more important than whatever you're doing in North Africa, Cassie."

"Thanks for letting me know the trace is working. I will call you back later. This is very important."

"I thought you signed the Accords as a ruse, to get out of the Raft, but if you're not willing to help me with this just because it's off the book..."

"Mein Gott, Philip! This has nothing to do with that! I am helping Cap and Bucky make it somewhere safe so that we can mount an offensive on the Raft and help the other Avengers escape captivity. If you really need help with this Inhuman, we can help you after the jailbreak. I will call you back, then! Goodbye, Phil!" Cassie said, turning off the phone and shoving it back into the bag. She looked up at the soldiers. "He was talking too much. I only had a few seconds before his tech knew where we were in Africa."

"Who's Coulson?" Bucky asked, offering his hand as she went to stand. Cassie took it and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

"I told you I had an ex who's a big fan of Cap and the Commandos? Phil Coulson, Director of SHIELD."

"You dated the Director of SHIELD?"

"He wasn't the Director when I dated him. He was just a lowly level 8 agent."

"Level 8 is one of the higher ones, right?" Bucky asked.

"One of the highest. Phil Coulson's a good man." Steve answered.

"That's a recurrent theme in your boyfriends, isn't it?" Bucky asked. "Good man, just couldn't keep you."

Cassie looked down as she walked away from them. "Phil didn't _want_ to keep me. He found a pretty brunette cellist in Portland. He decided on her."

"What an idiot." 

"And Clint hasn't lost me, yet."

Bucky nodded once and moved by her to take point. "Where's your ring?" He whispered as he passed. Cassie looked down at her left hand. She hadn't realized it was gone. "Pocket." 

"How'd it get _there_ , Barnes?" She asked, patting her pants.

"Don't want people seeing it. Might think you're worth stealing." Bucky said, turning his head.

"I'm definitely worth stealing. My wit, alone, is enough to make me worth the effort."

"And that body is just icing."

"On a very intelligent cake. Don't objectify me, Sergeant." She smiled.

"Wouldn't dream of it. We've both _been_ objects."

"Do you have to do that?" Steve asked, from behind her.

"You're right, Steve. I should pretend we _don't_ have a gorgeous woman traveling with us."

"You should refrain from being so shameless with-"

"A grown-ass woman who's giving as good as she's getting? I'm not married, Steve."

"Your fiance is sitting in a cell right now because of me. The least I can do is make sure that my best friend doesn't break up his engagement while he's in there."

"You think so highly of me, Steve." Bucky mumbled.

"I think the world of you, both of you." Steve said, seriously. "That's why I don't want you to do something damaging to..."

"Steve, stop.  _If_ I chose to break off my engagement to Barton, it would be because _I_ chose to. Not because of Bucky or you. Maybe I'm... not sure I really want to be married. Maybe, I don't know who I am so how could I possibly make a good addition to someone else? Maybe, I can't marry him because I've been hiding the unsavory parts of myself from him. The worst thing about me that he knows is Joanna."

"Clint would love you, anyway."

"If he wanted an assassin for a bride, he'd have asked Natasha a long time ago."

"You aren't an assassin." Steve said, grabbing her hand to stop her.

She smirked, sardonically, as she turned to him. "We don't know that, do we? What we know is that at least one of the names on SHIELD's Walls of Valor was on there because of me. I've killed. A good man, a good agent, one that Fury liked enough to go on a search for. Were there more? Was it a whole group of Level 5 agents that I murdered? I don't know. But just one is enough to make me question myself forever. And it'll be enough for Clint to stop seeing me as his pristine Red Queen."

"He doesn't love you because you're 'pristine'."

"He wouldn't love me if he knew I was a monster, Steve."

"I don't agree." Steve said, as Bucky stopped and turned to them.

"You don't have to. I know him. I know Clint. He sees me as this beautiful thing, a little bit scarred but otherwise beautiful. The biggest scar on me is supposed to be the one that Loki carved into my chest. He thinks that I'm... getting better, but I'm just getting better at hiding it. I shouldn't have to hide anything from him, though, and I do. I _have_ to hide. You think it won't change how he sees me when he finds out I murdered someone? You can't say that, Cap, because it's changed how  _you_ look at me." Steve opened his mouth to argue, but Cassie continued before he could. "You look at me and Bucky like Clint looks at rescue dogs. 'Oh, sure, this one's got scars from being forced into dog fights, but we can rehabilitate him!' Except we didn't get the pit bull with the clipped ears and scars, Steve, we got the Golden Retriever with the waggly tail, who eats pizza."

Cassie stepped toward Bucky and adjusted her bag on her back. "I don't mind being the pit bull so much, but Clint thinks I'm the Retriever. And it's gonna hurt our relationship when he realizes I'm not."

"When did you decide your relationship was over?" Steve asked, sadly.

Cassie looked between Steve and Bucky then shrugged. "Probably when I saw how he looked at Bucky."

"Was that before or after you told him that Bucky could take you from him?"

"Back when we were still stateside, watching the news about the bombing in Vienna." Cassie started walking again. "He looked at Bucky like he was a rabid dog."

"I'm not excited about all these dog metaphors." Bucky spoke up, following her.

"I just don't think you should write off your engagement until you know how Clint feels about... your past."

"My past. Like it's so simple." She rolled her eyes. "This isn't like you finding out I was pregnant with Phil's kid or that I wanted so badly to be a mother that I was willing to let Loki's child destroy me from the inside. This is worse. This is murder."

"But murder implies you did it on purpose. You were forced-"

"No. I was given an order, but I didn't even try to resist. I  _murdered_ that agent and... the memories are vague, but I think I liked it. I am a murderer, Steve. Clint is not."

"We've all done regrettable things."

"No, not like this. Look, drop it. I'm not who he thinks I am and never will be."


	7. Regrets

 

The sound of guns cocking woke the heroes. Shadows were being cast on their tent, they could tell they were surrounded. "Come out!" A deep voice with a thick African accent called out. Cassie reached for her pistol, but several voices behind her caught her attention.

"They're children." She whispered.

Bucky and Steve sighed as she set her gun back down on her backpack. "We're coming out." Steve called, as he unzipped the tent. There were a dozen young men with automatic weapons in their hands, and a single actual _man_ holding a large revolver. Steve and Bucky put their hands up as they stepped out of the tent and their arms were immediately grabbed by child soldiers.

Cassie gave a defiant look as the man in charge stepped toward her, reaching his left arm out to grab her. "Don't touch me." She warned.

He didn't seem impressed. Honestly, though, who would be? Short, blond, white women aren't exactly the epitome of piss-your-pants scary. He continued to advance, grabbing her arm and pulling her forward. She stepped into the yank, putting a leg behind the large man's legs and hip-checking his balance. She elbowed him in the head as he went down, then flipped, landing with her foot on his throat. The young African soldiers looked at her in fear as their leader moaned beneath her boot. The old American soldiers looked wary of her actions, too. "Do any of you speak English?" She asked, her accent affixed to her words.

"I do." A small boy of about 12 said, stepping away from Steve.

"Good. Tell your friends to let my friends go." She ordered.

"Why?"

She smirked, a dark amusement coloring her eyes. "Vell, zey do make zeir child soldiers fearless in Africa, don't zey?" She put extra pressure into the throat of the soldier under her boot, stepping off as she heard the crunch and felt his bones give. She put her hand in her pocket and pulled out an old pocket knife. "See, child soldier, I feel your plight much more zen your... _aferage_ vite voman. Zey took you from your family. Isolated you. Zey control you viz drugs and meaningless titles. Zey make you completely dependent on zem." She licked her lips and chuckled. "It's not, exactly, how it happened to me, _but_... still. Do you _like_ your bruzzers-in-arms? I know you probably hated zis fathead muzzerfucker, but do you like your friends?" She nudged the dead man with her right heel.

The boy nodded, slightly, obviously unsure of where she was going with her line of questioning. "Good for you. I didn't haf any friends ven I vas your age. I vas all alone until I vas 17. Now, look into my eyes and know zee truz of my vords." Bucky could see a glimmer of hope in Steve's eyes as Cassie bent down slightly to the boy's level. "If your friends do not release my friends, I vill kill you, but not before I make you vatch as I tear apart your bruzzers, viz my bare hands und zis dull pocket knife. I vill drown you in zeir blood vizout batting an eye. Do you zink it's vorz it? All of your lives, jus so you can go to zee next life saying you didn't give up?"

The boy looked into her eyes, horrified, before turning to the others and speaking to them. They immediately let go of Bucky and Steve, stepping backwards. "Good choice. If I ver you, I'd take Fathead's Jeep and go to some of zee refugee camps, see if you can find any family zey didn't massacre ven zey took you. Don't let me see you again, Child Soldier." She said, bending down to pull the Jeep keys out of the dead man's pocket and throw them at the boy. He picked the keys up from the ground and turned tail, his friends following behind him. Cassie turned to the tent, tossing their bags to the ground before deftly pulling the stakes up and collapsing it as Steve watched the kids pile into the Jeep. By the time he'd turned around, she'd stuffed the tent back into the bag and attached it to her backpack. "Come on. Vee haf to go." She didn't wait as she started walking away.

"What the heck was that?" Steve asked, looking down at the dead African man.

"Guten Tag, Junior." Bucky said, before grabbing his bag and following after her. "Hey. I know you don't like letting that part of yourself out, but... thank you. Steve and I wouldn't have been able to..."

"It vas stupid. Vee nefer should haf gone to sleep vizout a lookout. Just because vee are superhuman doesn't mean vee can ignore zee dangers of Africa."

"You're right. We'll start pulling shifts at night, okay?"

Cassie stopped and shook her head as she turned to Bucky. "No. You are boz still healing from zee fight viz Stark. I vill do lookout."

"Sweetheart, you may not be 100 years old and beaten up, but you do need sleep."

"Nonsense. I took zis off zee fathead. I vill be able to go vizout sleep." Cassie said, presenting a baggy of pills to him.

"You're not serious?" Cassie just stared at Bucky. "I'm sorry." He said, before pulling his arm back and punching the side of her head.

She came back up, her hand on her head. "What was that for?!"

"Thought it would help. You were acting a little too HYDRA for my liking. The accent, the 'let's throw pills at it' attitude. I mean, we really don't want a call-back to the Pervitan days."

"I still think I'm the better choice for watch." Cassie said, looking down at the bag of pills in her hand. "And if the best way to accomplish that is some... sketchy amphetamines, then maybe..."

"We'll trade off responsibility on the night watch." Bucky grabbed the bag and threw it.

"Oh, my god." Cassie whispered as Steve walked up. She fell to her knees and retched, her hands going to her stomach. "I killed that man." She retched again, tears rolling down her face. "I told that kid I was going to drown him in his friends' blood. What wa-..." The remnants of her MRE dinner from the night previous finally made their way up her esophagus and spilled on the ground in front of her.

Bucky was at her side, immediately, running his hand soothingly between her shoulders. "It's okay. Just get it all out."

Her bag began to ring, so Steve dug his hand into her backpack. He pulled her phone out and turned it on. "Hello?"

"Give the phone to Miss Campbell, Steve." Fury's voice came through.

"She's a bit busy right now, Nick."

"Puking her guts out all over the African landscape, I know. Give her the phone, anyway." 

"Nick Fury." Steve placed the phone next to her head. 

"I told you not to ask questions, Campbell. Why did you have to push it?"

Cassie grasped at the phone, pushing it into her ear painfully hard. "You... should've told me... years ago."

"What, so that you'd always hate what you see in the mirror? Or worse, like it? Aspire to be what HYDRA wanted of you instead of fighting against it? I found a confused little girl in the Alps, Cassie. A little girl with no name, who honestly didn't know _anything_ about my missing agents. I hoped that the work we did on you would be enough, and I think it would've been if you'd stayed out West with Coulson."

"Loki would've found me, anyway." She cried. "Barton told him about me. About... my father. But... what's happening to me, Nick? I'm not just remembering her, I'm becoming her."

"No. You aren't. You won't ever be her again. All of your experiences, they make you. The experiences that we hid from you when you got to the Fridge, they're just starting to color your personality. And, if you don't freak out about it, woman, this may not be a bad thing."

"May not be a bad thing?" She leaned up straight, letting the pressure off of the phone. "I just killed a man."

"Who was going to rape and kill you. Sometimes men need to die. You haven't killed a good man since Agent Barker and you didn't have control of that."

"Barker?" ' _Theodore Joseph Barker, SHIELD level 5, 128-42-0724'_ "Oh, my god!" She breathed out.

"When you get done in Africa, call me. There's options here, Cassie."

"Just stop. I'm not... her. I'm exactly... the _opposite_ of the person I thought I was." She said, dropping the phone and standing. She took off running, her bag and the tent thumping against her back as she did.

Steve picked up the phone as Bucky rushed after her. "Uh, she's going to have to call you back, Nick."

"You and Barnes need to keep a close eye on her, Steve. She needs someone to pull her out of this or we may lose her. I can't imagine how much of a boost it'd be for HYDRA if she decided to give in and become her programming."

"It would be like her father coming back." 

"Exactly. The last thing we need is HYDRA rallying around their 'legacy'. You need to help her remember who she is."

"I don't doubt she's a good person, Nick, but... what just happened." Steve sighed, rubbing his hand down his face. "It was like watching Natasha and Loki fight for control of her body. She killed a man, then threatened to drown a little boy in the blood of his friends if they didn't let us go. It was... disturbing."

"If you don't think that you and Barnes can bring her back, let me know. I'll have Phil swoop in and grab her. We can hook her up and get rid of those bad memories."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Steve looked around to where he could see Bucky standing with Cassie, maybe a quarter mile away. "We'll work on it." Steve turned off the phone and looked down at it before starting to walk toward his companions. Their voices carried to him easily.

"This isn't war, Sergeant, and I'm not supposed to be a soldier. I just wanted to be an Avenger, help people."

"You do help people. You helped those kids. Sent them to go find their families."

"After I killed their handler! I threatened to tear those kids apart and drown that boy in their blood."

"You wouldn't have done that, though. You-"

"You don't know that! You don't know me!" Steve watched from a couple hundred feet away as Cassie dropped her bag and pulled out a pistol, shoving it into Bucky's hand. He rushed forward. "You have to. I can't  _be_ that _._ Please."

"I can't. You... I don't want to kill-"

"Neither do I! The only way to keep me from killing anyone else is if you-"

Steve cut her off with a slap across her left cheek. "Stop it! You threatened the kid to avoid hurting him and his friends in a fight. It was a little graphic, but it needed to be so that he'd believe it. The warlord you killed was an evil man who never would have stopped chasing those kids and is likely responsible for thousands of deaths. You can feel bad about the blood on your boots, but do not rid the world of one of the best women I've had the pleasure of knowing just because you scared yourself."

Cassie closed her eyes and fell forward, sobbing into Bucky's chest, who dropped the gun and held her close to him. "Hey, it's okay. It'll be okay." He soothed as he rested his chin on the top of her head. 

Steve looked lost as he tried to think of the words that would make this better. "You're... a good woman. You really are. I wouldn't be your friend if I thought you were..." Steve sighed, deeply, afraid he wasn't getting through. "Damn, Cassie, I wanted to date you."

"'Wanted'. Key word." She pulled back and wiped at her eyes. "I keep crying on you." She whispered to Bucky.

"I'd rather you cry on me than bleed on me." He whispered.

"It's not 'wanted' because you changed, Cass, it's because you chose Clint and I... moved on. Why do you think it's so hard to watch you flirt with Bucky? Because if you changed your mind about Clint, then I just wasted the last year pretending we could be just friends."

"What about your CIA dame?" Bucky asked, as Cassie was rubbing her hands roughly over her eyes.

"Sharon... probably got fired for helping me. But she didn't go to jail for it." Steve sat down on the ground next to his companions. "Sharon didn't travel halfway around the world to help me when she knew it would pit her against the closest thing she has to a father... the man who helped her realize her potential as a hero and nurtures her as a scientist. Sharon didn't... stand up to an alien prince and tell him that she wasn't going to be his puppet anymore. She's strong, like Peggy was, but... I don't know. There's a lot of good in you, Cassie, and I hate to think you might hurt yourself because of some..."

"Hate to think of you hurting yourself, at all." Bucky interrupted.

"You... really don't think it's... I mean... I'm a killer."

"So are we. We're soldiers." Steve answered. "Back in the war, before the train... we killed HYDRA agents by the dozen... and after the train, I rampaged against those that took Buck from me. It's something that... never stops weighing on you, but it's necessary." He reached out and gently grabbed her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. "You are _not_ the one who killed those SHIELD agents. You aren't her. You have grown and moved on and become something completely separate from the plan HYDRA had for... 'Project Kind number four fifty-two'. You aren't her and remembering what she did, that's just gonna help you avoid the mistakes you would've made if you were still her. You are amazing and you are a good person. Please. Don't do anything stupid. Just don't. I couldn't deal with losing another..."

She looked into his eyes for a moment before she nodded. "Cool. Well, I'm... ready to get to Wakanda, so let's go." Cassie said, hopping up and grabbing her pistol from the ground.

"Uh... what?" Bucky looked at her from his spot on the ground next to Steve.

"I can't do this again. So, I'm not gonna do this again. Let's go."

"Do what again?" Bucky asked, standing.

"The choosing. Steve's still got a flame, you've got a flame. I've got... various fires. I just want to... _not_. Let's go. We can make Wakanda in 2 days if we keep moving. No sleep 'til Brooklyn." She said, shoving the pistol into the back of her waistband.

"What?"

"It's a song, I think." Bucky said, starting to walk away.

"Beastie Boys. Put 'em on your list." Cassie said, following Bucky.

*************************

The edge of the border into Wakandan territory was heavily guarded. They'd barely approached the border when a group a armed soldiers surrounded them. "We were expecting two American _men_. Who is the American woman?"

"I'm actually German. Cassandra Campbell. I... I wasn't _invited_ , but King T'Challa has met me. I..."

The soldiers spoke to each other in Wakandan, then one pulled out a radio and spoke into it. After a moment, there was a response, then the soldier nodded, allowing them to move through. They were lead to a palace, where T'Challa greeted them. Cassie bowed to the king. "Miss Campbell, I was not expecting you to be with Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes. It is good to see you."

"It's good to officially meet you, your highness. This is a much better setting than the battlefield."

"Your Secretary Ross told me that you were with child and were sent home after signing the Accords." T'Challa offered his hand, which she shook.

"I lost the baby." She lied. It was easier than the truth. "And I don't really have a home, but I have people. People that I care about, who I wanted to protect on their journey. Thank you, your highness, for allowing me entrance. It really is as beautiful as I imagined."

"I have heard you are a scientist, Miss Red Queen. Not Doctor?"

She smiled. "No. I've actually _just_ finished my undergraduate degree. Haven't even walked the stage for my graduation, yet. Maybe, one day."

"Well, allow me to take you on a tour of my labs."

The tour ended with T'Challa asking one of his aids to escort the guests to their rooms, a trio of giant doors. She was delivered a dress to wear for dinner and took a long bath to scrub the dirt of the trek off of her. She stared at herself in the mirror. The dress fit and it was nice, a black sheath dress that dropped below her knees. The neckline was a deep-V, which showed most of her scars. She bit her lip, running a comb through her hair and pulling the strands across her shoulders to keep the exposure to a minimum. A knock came to her door, so she checked herself in the mirror and opened it to reveal Bucky, looking similarly uncomfortable in his clean borrowed clothes. His clothes were contrasted to hers, white pants and a tank top. "I knew there was a man under all that blood and dirt." She smiled, letting him into her room. "What are you doing here, Bucky? Steve will-"

"He's busy with T'Challa. Discussing my fate, I suppose." He looked around the room. "I'm here, 'cause I needed to-"

"Say 'Goodbye'?" She answered for him. She leaned against a vanity with a large, antique mirror. "I saw how you were looking at T'Challa's cryo tank. Like it was your salvation. You're gonna have them put you under again."

He sighed. "I think it's the only way to be sure that I won't hurt anyone. There's no way I can do any damage if I'm asleep. I wanted to talk to you about it... since you-"

"Would understand? Better than Steve, anyway. Have you told him? I mean, I understand. I do. I understand wanting to shut everything off and... being afraid of what will happen if you _don't_ freeze. I..." A tear escaped her eye. "I don't want you to."

"I'm going to tell him tonight. Look, you're safe here. You and Steve can get rested up and go save your archer and your friends." He sat on the bed and looked at his feet. "I'd like to, before I get into the cryo tank..."

"No. Because if I kiss you, if I... if I do what I have wanted to do with you since Leipzig, it's over. You're getting in that tank and I'm never..."

"I'm getting in that tank whether you kiss me or not." He stood, crossing the distance between them in 3 long strides. "But am I going to have the taste of you on my lips when I go under?"

She looked up into his blue eyes and swallowed, sadly. "I should say 'no'. A good woman would. I... I have an archer waiting for me and he thinks I'm a good woman. He thinks I'm..." She stopped speaking abruptly, reaching out and grabbing the back of his neck, pulling his head down to smash their lips together. His arm wrapped around her, holding her close as her tongue pushed into his mouth. She pulled away, staring up at him as they breathed heavily.

"Oh, you taste like whiskey." He whispered.

She smiled, pulling his arm off of her waist. "That's weird. I haven't had anything to drink."

"Maybe it's natural. Maybe you just remind me of whiskey because you get me tipsy."

She smirked, going on her tiptoes to place a gentle kiss on his lips. "Do you think... do you think I should go under, too?" She whispered against his mouth.

"What, the cryo? I don't know. That's completely up to you. I know it's the best option for me." Bucky kissed her quickly as he heard footsteps approaching the door.

"Miss? It is dinner time."

"All right. I'll be... I'll be right there." She looked down. "You should go. She'll be knocking your door soon." He didn't say a word as he slipped out of her room.

********************

The knock that woke her came as the sun began to crest over the treetops surrounding Wakanda. She rubbed her eyes as she padded across the floor to answer. Steve stood there, looking completely forlorn. "Steve?"

"Bucky wants to go into cryo."

Cassie nodded, gesturing for him to enter the room. "He told you." She said, quietly.

"You _knew_?"

"I was hoping he'd change his mind, or that you'd talk him out of it. Something."

"I couldn't. I tried, but forcing him to stay awake when he's got this kill-switch in his head... it'd be cruel." He shook his head, sadly. "What if we never find a way to fix what HYDRA put in his head? Then, I've lost him forever... again."

Cassie sat on the edge of her bed and patted the comforter. Steve took the seat she offered and sighed. "I'm sorry. I know how... how much he means to you." She put an arm around him and laid her head on his shoulder. "I know you'd do anything for him, but... this is what he needs to do to feel secure in himself."

"He's a good man. I just want him to..."

"It doesn't matter what you want, Steve. This is about Bucky, who feels like a stranger in his own body. He can't tell what pieces of him are _him_ and what pieces HYDRA added. He can't tell you half of what he did over the last 70 years, and it terrifies him that someone can come along with a handful of Russian words and turn him back into that ruthless... machine. It's hard enough being a superhuman international fugitive without adding on the wildcard of 'God help me, I might wake up with a whole new list of people I can't remember killing'."

Steve leaned his head against hers. "I guess... I don't have to like it, but I don't have much say, do I?"

"No. No, you don't. Are you gonna be okay?"

Steve kissed the top of her head, then hugged her close. "Yeah. I think I will be."

"You should go get some rest, Steve." She stood, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him off the bed.

"You know... you're stronger than you think you are."

"I know exactly how strong I am, Steve. I did tests at StarkTech Olympia." She said, with a smirk.

"You know what I mean. I'm constantly impressed with what you can do, what you can survive and how you can thrive under conditions that would crush other women."

"You're gonna make me blush. Please, I'm not that impressive."

Steve looked down at her. "I'm losing my best friend in a few hours. I know that you've gotten close to him over the last couple of weeks. Yet, here you are, comforting me instead of letting yourself be sad."

"Go to bed, Steve. I'll see you in a few hours." She went on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, just under the contusion and bruising, as she opened the door and gently pushed him out into the hall. She sighed, deeply, and walked to the vanity, pulling a piece of stationary in front of her and setting to the task of writing out a letter.

***********************

There was no time to say goodbye to Bucky in solitude, so she stepped away as T'Challa's lab tech prepped Bucky for the tank. She watched from her place near the window as Steve and Bucky said their goodbyes. T'Challa walked up to Steve as Bucky froze in the tank and Cassie joined them soon after. "King T'Challa, do you have... do you have another one?"

T'Challa blinked at her for a moment before nodding. "The Cryonics Tank? Yes. Why?"

Her breath came in short as Steve stepped in front of her. She looked down to avoid his gaze. "What are you doing, Cassie?"

"It's better this way. We can't hurt anyone if we're frozen."

Steve's fingers were shaking as he tipped her chin up to look into her eyes. "I'm losing you _and_ Bucky. I don't know what I'm going to do."

"You're gonna... gonna go save Clint, Scott and Sam from the Raft. You're gonna give this letter to Clint when you do." She didn't look away from his eyes as she tucked the envelope into his jacket pocket.

"How am I supposed to explain to Clint that I let you freeze yourself?"

"The letter'll do that for you. You have nothing to explain."

"You say that, but..."

"Steve, I wrote that letter 4 different times. I made sure to explain everything and apologize profusely. The letter will do everything. You just have to get him out of jail and give it to him. Please. Do this for me." He nodded, sadly. She smiled, closing her eyes as she pulled his head down to kiss him. As she pulled away, breathing heavily and blushing, she looked at her feet. "You might be, you know, physically old when I get out of there. I didn't want to regret it if..."

He cut her off with another kiss, her hands coming up to the back of his neck. She moaned as they pulled away. "You're right. I would hate to have missed out on that."

She sighed, turning to T'Challa. "What do I have to do to get frozen?"

"My aid will help you." The king nodded at his aid, who came over and grabbed her arm.

Cassie didn't close her eyes until the moment the hypothermia-inducing chemicals flooded the tank. The last image she saw was Steve Rogers, standing in front of her, a look of regret on his face.


End file.
